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 & locality of the colony; its flights flowers water sources parasites lives & deaths. These poems were written at the hive wearing a veil & gloves & 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 & minute exploratory interventions through the round of the year. The book is full of moments of revelation
- particularly of the relationship between the domestic & the wild. In attempting to record & invoke something of the complexity of the relationship between keeper & kept it tunes ear & speech towards the ecstasy of bees between the known & the unknown. Because of its genesis as a working journal there is here an unusual intimacy & deep scrutiny of life & death in nature. The language itself is dense & clotted the imagery thrillingly fresh & the observing eye close scrupulous & full of wonder. Bee Journal is one of the most unusual & exciting poetry debuts in years."