THE HORNET JAR

By Julianna Bjorksten

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A jar of melted butter

Found as a relic in the sunlit shed

If you look closely

Reveals hundreds of waxy eyes

Hornets, lifeless

Floating in

clotted alcohol

The color of pollen:

moonshine sake

Hidden from the sun’s sharp blade,

For three years

of lulling quiescence

To flower, to fossilize

In a sallow jar  

A golden hive, preserved  

Sano-san –– who too had avoided aging ––

prescribed it to me

“For longevity”