How the Flesh Welts

Sting, but within an instant the hurt begins to fade
Free in the violence of overcoming
Pain
Bees that give their lives to safeguard the pollen-gathering
Grains of gold
Barbed significance, always showing guts
But
Proven only after
Disembowelment

Small things—stings, stingers, bees
Hurt
Life at its grandest
Worth the aggressor’s dilemma
Whether in each case, on each side
Victor or
Victim

Who can tell either way?