Book description
Bee Journal is a startlingly original poetry sequence: a
poem-journal of beekeeping that chronicles the life of the hive, from
the collection of a small nucleus on the first day to the capture of a
swarm two years later. It observes the living architecture of the
comb, the range and locality of the colony; its flights, flowers,
water sources, parasites, lives and deaths.
These poems were written at the hive wearing a veil and gloves, and
the journal is an intrinsic part of the kinetic activity of keeping
bees: making 'tiny, regular checks' in the turn around the central
figure of the sun, and minute exploratory interventions through the
round of the year. The book is full of moments of revelation -
particularly of the relationship between the domestic and the wild. In
attempting to record and invoke something of the complexity of the
relationship between 'keeper' and 'kept' it tunes ear and speech
towards the ecstasy of bees, between the known and the unknown.
Because of its genesis as a working journal, there is here an
unusual intimacy and deep scrutiny of life and death in nature. The
language itself is dense and clotted, the imagery thrillingly fresh,
and the observing eye close, scrupulous and full of wonder. Bee
Journal is one of the most unusual and exciting poetry debuts in years.
Sean Borodale works as a poet and artist, making scriptive and
documentary poems written on location; this derives from his process of
writing and walking for works such as
Notes for an Atlas
(Isinglass 2003) and
Walking to Paradise
(1999).
Bee Journal
is his first collection of poetry. He lives in Somerset.
