The Pedigree of Honey (#1 in “a shining moment” series)

The pedigree of Honey
Does not concern the Bee,
Nor lineage of Ecstasy
Delay the Butterfly.

Above, are the first four lines of a typically succinct poem by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Its following eight lines:

On spangle journeys to the peak
Of some perceiveless thing —
The right of way to Tripoli
A more essential thing.

—

The Pedigree of Honey
Does not concern the Bee 
A Clover, any time, to him,
Is Aristocracy

____

Click here to discover more about Emily Dickinson.

Today, Pelican Yoga launches a new series of posts, each of which will involve a single photo. (all, copyright Doug Spencer)

I will endeavour to continue the “a shining moment” series for however long the current global crisis persists.

Some of the images are the fruit of travels to “remote” or “exotic” places.

Others – such as the first one – are the fruit of a perfectly “ordinary”/“everyday” inner-suburban walk through some of “our”  local inner-suburban streets.

No apiarist had any role in establishing the relevant hive.

In the months/years before the relevant date – 18 January, 2020 – who knows how many thousands of humans had walked almost immediately below this hive, unaware of its existence?

Most humans’ failure to notice the hive was probably a key to its survival.

Unwittingly, bees helped inspire one of my favourite erotic songs/performances.

Taj Mahal – its North American male vocalist and fingerpicking guitarist  – is the song’s primary author.

Equally crucial to this performance are its Malian participants – kora virtuoso Toumani Diabaté and its short-lived female singer Ramata Diakité. Also known as “Ramatou” Diakité, she was just 33 when she died in 2009, a little more than a decade after this recording: