Bumble Bee Hive

          Bumble Bee Hive

Our adobe house in Lemitar

with its two foot thick walls

—a child could stand comfortably

in the deep set windows—

was home to a hive of bumble

bees with their thick, velvety

bodies and their slow

motion

calisthenics; I remember an old

weathered saddle frame lay splayed

in the attic—squat in the dust that was

the insulation for the tin-roofed abode.

We caught June bugs in those days

haven’t seen one in years…

and tied a crochet string

to their back leg, so their bumbling,

awkward escape-attempt-flights  

entertained us…..kids played outside

in those days. Cokes were just nine cents

and the only fat kid was Porky

  on the Timmy and Lassie show.