it seems that the hotter the day,
the colder the air is kept in the building.
People seem afraid of the heat and the humidity.
No one intends to sweat.
It wasn’t always this way though, was it?
People used to sweat.
But the oil is available right now
so we will use it until it is gone.
We will stay cool.
In fact, we will be cold.
Sometimes near midday when the day is hottest,
I get so cold that I step outside
to talk with the smokers.
A blast of heat hits me.
It feels so good that if no pariahs are there to talk to,
I stand and close my eyes and absorb the heat.
One day while standing there
I noticed bees flying among the clover,
flitting from one white flower to the next.
The bees are black and yellow.
I wonder if the other kind of bee is not attracted to clover.
Or perhaps we have killed them all off already.
Whatever the reason,
the bees are all black and yellow.
Each day that I step outside,
the bees are always there.
Always.
I began to think of their lives.
They come each day,
to extract the nutrients,
so that they can come each day,
to extract the nutrients.
How futile.
I dread going back into the building,
knowing that I will be cold.
But I will be back tomorrow.
With the bees and the smokers.