The Atlantic | June 2002 | A Beard of Bees

Contents | June 2002

More on poetry from The Atlantic Monthly.

The Atlantic Monthly | June 2002

A Beard of Bees

by X. J. Kennedy

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Hear X. J. Kennedy read this poem (in RealAudio)

at the farmers' market

The arbor of his chin
Bedangled with a cluster
Of yellow grapes that buzz
Like an electric razor,
This raiser of honeybees
With face in half-eclipse
Coaxes some hairs aside
To clear space for his lips.

He's a master of close shaves.
How well he does one thing,
With what abandon braves
Disaster's sting,
Quite unlike refugees
Crossing a perilous sector.
A whir—his moustache flies
Away in search of nectar.

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The Lords of Misrule, a new collection of poetry by X. J. Kennedy, will be published in September.