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Contents | June 2002

More on poetry from The Atlantic Monthly.


The Atlantic Monthly | June 2002
 
A Beard of Bees

by X. J. Kennedy
 
.....
 
audioear pictureHear 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.
What do you think? Discuss this article in Post & Riposte.


The Lords of Misrule, a new collection of poetry by X. J. Kennedy, will be published in September.
Copyright © 2002 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
The Atlantic Monthly; June 2002; A Beard of Bees; Volume 289, No. 6; 53.


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