In the late afternoon
I want to go outside
but don’t
because of the bees
that dance
and
hover
in early spring sunlight.
I—an adult—
Gigantic compared to them—
am terrified.

So, I stay in
where the air
is still
and smells
of last night’s
fish Friday
and I don’t move for
hours
in a place between
sleep and awake
though my body begs
as I dream of outside
but it seems
frighteningly  

far


away