FIRST BEE OF THE YEAR

Yesterday

Saw my first bee of the year –

Slightly smaller than

British golf-ball sized –

Soft and fluffy,

Bear-like blackish-brown,

Bumping and bouncing

Along the street

Reminding me of

The old leather footballs

My mates and me,

When we were young,

Were wont to boot up in the air

And wait and watch each bump and bounce,

Onto and off,

Walls of nearby houses and factory buildings

That happened to be

Around.

Filled with hard in-put breaths of air

From always hard-to-find

(Whenever one was needed)

Adaptor and bicycle pump

The old leather footballs,

At once both cannon-ball hard and heavy,

On hitting heads,

Hairy and not so hairy,

Bumped and bounced brains mercilessly

Inside small schoolboys’

Skulls.

But my first bee

Of the year,

Bumping and bouncing

Along the street

Yesterday,

At once buzzing about its business

And battling with an unexpectedly

Brash and brusque

Spring breeze,

Posed no threat to me.