Go, Tigers!
Moreover, in my latest chats with bees, they have seemed healthy and busy, unlike that alarming experience a month ago (September 6, 2011). Naturally that's led me to look again for poems involving bees.
One of the most common maxims about writing poetry (and fiction, for that matter) is, "Show, Don't Tell." Don't summarize, generalize or preach to readers; create an experience and let readers draw their own conclusions.
I've been thinking about that in relation to these two rather different poems by long-established American poets Jean Valentine and W.S. Merwin (Merwin was U.S. Poet Laureate until Phillip Levine took over recently). I'm interested in your responses, whether or not they are specifically connected to the issue of Show, Don't Tell.
Bees by Jean Valentine : The Poetry Foundation
The River of Bees by W. S. Merwin : The Poetry Foundation
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