Caitlin Stobie
The hive is a giant
nose. See how communes sense
the queen’s elation:
that mystic history of honey.
Today I hum, yellow,
rehearing your laughter
waxing in carnation.
Because you know me
down to my peeled feet.
Because your lashes furl
in subtlety. I know
no utopia is
what it seems, but oh,
this sweetness smells clean
Caitlin Stobie is a PhD researcher at the University of Leeds whose poems have appeared in journals including uHlanga, The Kalahari Review, Aerodrome, New Coin and New Contrast. She has recently been shortlisted for the RædLeaf International Poetry Award and is co-editor of EPIZOOTICS!, a journal for the contemporary animal.