Reading Bee Poems in Topanga

an event announcement!

Lovely readers, I’m delighted to announce a somewhat last-minute event I’ll be part of in Topanga Canyon, LA, on April 8th!

Scientist, beekeeper and filmmaker Onyx Baird is showing a 12-min clip of her film-in-progress AMRITA (“honey” or “holy food” in Sanskrit), which follows three groups of women in different parts of the world as they merge science and spirituality in their efforts to conserve wild honeybees amidst a challenging modern landscape.

I’ll be reading poetry about bees from The Venus Year and maybe even portions of the longer poem I’m working on about bee queens that will be featured in the finished film!

There will also be gorgeous cello music by Marshall MacDaniel, and a Q & A with Onyx about the film. The setting is in Topanga Canyon, at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, a gorgeous, oak-shaded old California-style outdoor theater.

Get your tickets here— RSVP required. It would be so lovely to see you there, and to help continue the fundraising for the completion of this important film!

“[Amrita] will document the stories of three groups of women located in Hawaii, Portugal, and the Yucatan as they work to conserve wild honeybees. The film will showcase their individual journeys, scientific research, and the spiritual connection they share with the bees across cultures. Through taking a unique scientific approach that allows space for relationship, these women have been able to gather valuable holistic insight into how bees really live (and thrive) in the wild. In a time where honeybees are still dying at alarming rates, this critical information on how to support their health is deeply valuable.”

-Onyx Baird, director

My first hive of bees bearding on their front stoop to cool down in the heat (Inverness, California August 2020)

“Among the ruins the bees are piecing

clay sherds back together with new wax

It is the season the queen bee takes her flight

{…}

I draw a shape around me on the hillside

Hexagonal, the six corners of the labyrinth

There is a part of me which is virgin still

that flies wildly into the flowered spring”

+ + +

- from “Virgin,” in THE VENUS YEAR

For more about the event, and Onyx’s wonderful film, please follow along here or here.