You found me
holed up
in a honeycomb cell
(little white grub)
spooned royal jelly
from the gland in your head
Worker mother
all diligence
all death
could not stop spooning
could not stop dying
as I fed and fed
Instead of being
a little you
all diligence
all death
war raged in the wings
inevitable as a curse
I,
Virgin Queen,
pipe my high-pitched
battle cry
to take this hive
to sting all rivals
Now worker mother
watch
my nuptial flight
as drones congregate
leave me
to this hex
to lay
more than my own weight
in eggs in queen cups
every day
the undertaker
will carry your corpse
_________
Lisa Kelly's first collection, A Map Towards Fluency is published by Carcanet. Her pamphlet, 'from the IKEA Back Catalogue' is forthcoming with New Walk Editions. She is currently hosting COVID-compliant Bijou Torriano poetry events in Kentish Town.