THE BEES RESPOND TO BEING TOLD THE QUEEN IS DEAD
by Pepper Trail
John Chapple, the beekeeper at Buckingham Palace, reportedly informed Queen Elizabeth II’s bees of her death. Credit Dan Kitwood/Getty Images via The New York Times, September 15, 2022
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The rituals must be respected But we do not pause the work Choice is not a word we know These corridors are splendid Glowing, aromatic, and endless Leading to the golden treasuries It is our life to keep them filled We will do what we were born to do But it will no longer be sweet, for a King
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Pepper Trail is a poet and naturalist based in Ashland, Oregon. His poetry has appeared in Rattle, Atlanta Review, Spillway, Kyoto Journal, Cascadia Review, and other publications, and has been nominated for Pushcart and Best of the Net awards. His collection Cascade-Siskiyou was a finalist for the 2016 Oregon Book Award in Poetry.
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QUEUED
by Annie Cowell
The queue for Queen Elizabeth II's lying-in-state is visible from space in this photo taken Sept. 16, 2022. (Image credit: Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies @Maxar via Space.com.)
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We feel it is a very British thing, the queue. That we invented it, monopolise it, transformed it into art. We queue, best foot forward, wearing stiff upper lips, displaying plumes of peacock pride. For centuries we have practised; in war time ration lines, supermarkets, airports, Wimbledon. It agitates our sense of fairness; we are ready to be tested, to fight for our rightful place. Now, we have the mother of all queues. A record breaker, meandering for miles, flowing like the Thames through the heart of London. A pulsing tail of humanity, from Britain and abroad eager to embrace a marathon of waiting and be a part of history. No agitation here, instead a camaraderie of shared experience, of sorrow. At last, there is the end. A pause, in which to bow our heads. Pay respects. Duty bound, it seems, to say farewell.
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Annie Cowell grew up in Northern England. She is a former teacher who lives by the sea in Cyprus with her husband and rescue dogs. She is widely published in Popshot Quarterly, The Milk House, Paddler Press, and more. Her debut chapbook Birth Mote(s) is now available.