Pollinators.

Invisible ministerings on unbelievable wings
create, prolong, renew,
as pollen-dusted footprints
leave a legacy as large as dinosaur discoveries
on crashing grasses, questing hedgerows
juvenile orchards.

The shape of leaves which punctuate our imagination,
accepted and expected,
as we drive down country lanes
not wondering about our bug-free windscreens,
cursing the slowness of the hedge trimming tractor
but glad of the long view of the road.

I prefer the frenzied hum of a honeybee,
singing its psalms to a quiet ear.
The rumble of clearance machinery
echoing the rumble of empty bellies
when no crops grow.
And this could be our reality,
but we blinker ourselves like wayward hedgerows.

The invisibility of impossible beasts
inevitably declining
with intractable interferences
of man on land.

The Get Cumbria Buzzing! event aimed to teach people a little more about pollinators, and why they are essential to life on earth. Encouraging people to be PART of nature, rather than APART from nature is the way to tread gently. We are all living beings and we are as dependent on the insects for our food as we are the one who sows the seed, or picks the crop. We cannot be complacent, and the more we can co-exist with our fellow beasties the better. No squishing, or spraying; let the grass grow and the hedge go wild. Give our minibeasts a chance, because we need them.