I Am the Big Drowsy Queen Bee

Written by Kristina Ehin

Translated from the Estonian by Ilmar Lehtpere

Narrated by the Poet

Estonia

I am the big drowsy queen bee

of a honeycomb universe

who sleeps alone

in her beehive-silent bed

amid the dark of winter

 

I feel the restless lines in the hand of this universe

I have crept through each of its black holes

 

when spring comes

I bring a thousand larvae into the world

drunk on my andromeda milk

they stagger out of the hive

to swing on the opening blossoms of the cosmos

to roll light’s pollen

into the hot coal

of the night sky.

 

Kristiina Ehin is a leading Estonian poet. Her work has been translated into dozens of languages. She has had several books published in English in Ilmar Lehtpere’s translation, including the British Poetry Society Popescu Prize winner The Drums of Silence (Oleander Press) and the British Poetry Book Society Recommended Translation The Scent of Your Shadow (Arc). 1001 Winters (Bitter Oleander Press)