Let Us Gather Our Wild Honey Poem by Sarah Mkhonza

We came to walk in the forest
and gather wild honey. To listen
to the birds that have seen the hive
and run with containers empty,
and fill them to the brim.


Working night and day, we gather,
finger-kicking-good it is. Out
heads swollen from stings we
go on gathering. Till the beehive
is all that is in our heads.

Stings and all we walk on. Life
continues with honeyed seasons.
Their sweetness makes for sugar
sweet days. For the further you
are from the hive, the more
the bitterness in you. Go find your
hive. Till you find the door of
your hive. Hoping the bees will
not have moved.