bumble bee breaching
the lure of saffron petals,
exchanging favors
The sweet-scented rose, rooted to the ground, waits with the intention to attract the services of the bumble bee. The airborne bee, randomly roaming, pursues the intention to gather nectar from blossoms. They meet, half by design, half by chance. The bumble bee, legs laden with gold dust, passes up buds and pale blooms until it lands on a deep apricot blossom.
Perched on the ruffled petals, the bee searches for the entrance to the heart of the rose. It takes a big bee to find the opening among all those petals -- no little honey bees hovering around these roses.
When the bumble bee locates the center of the blossom, it dives headfirst into the inner sanctum.
They exchange favors -- the rose releases nectar to the bee, while the bee inadvertently deposits pollen from other flowers on the sticky stamens.
After long moments of probing, the bumble bee departs on its dark, transparent wings, leaving the fertilized flower to begin another cycle of waiting as the ovary swells and the petals fall away.
