Sat just before noon drinking coffee on the step

I watched a bee maneuver himself into a small hole

in the cement between the bricks,

casually brushing the dust from his sides

like someone wiping their feet

as they returned home from a morning's work.

He disappeared for maybe fifteen minutes or more

long enough for my coffee to grow cold

as I sat wondering when he would reappear

picturing him reclining in the cool dark with his wings up

whilst all the other bees when about their restless routine,

back and forth in the noon heat

with their minds on nothing but work work work.

Until he finally reappeared and with slow lazy waggle,

pulling back into the traffic of the courtyard

as I finally got up and tipped my cup

to this little bee after my own heart.