Jennifer Poteet
Mother Comes Back as a Bee
When I heard my name
as a buzz in my ear,
I knew she had come back as a bee.
One, I hoped, without its stinger.
My mother floated among my garden tomatoes,
then rested inside an eggplant blossom.
Why a bee? I asked.
I didn’t get to choose, she said.
Can you make honey?
I’m not that kind of bee.
Why not come inside, Mom,
where there’s air conditioning, to talk?
I just wanted to take a look at you, she replied,
circling me twice before she flew away.
Originally published in MER 19.
Jennifer Poteet lives in Montclair, NJ. Her poems have been published in The Paterson Review, The Cortland Review, The Journal of New Jersey Poets, Clementine Unbound and others. Her chapbook Sleepwalking Home was published by Dancing Girl Press. Jennifer’s website is jenniferpoteet.com.