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I approach my moon’s apiary,
hive-sanctuary
A humming
of hive magic
plays along my skin

The bees sheltered in the trees
when they brought us to these moons
Queens continued ruling
Yellow and black shaded to
silver and teal

I bow to the bees,
thanking them for pollinating
asking for honey
To crystallize the citrus peels
our witch-work requires

Small forms swirl around my face
flicking wings, brushing antennae
like gentle kisses
Their buzz pours into my ears
matching the thump of my heart



Devan Barlow is the author of the Curses & Curtains series, and the collection Foolish Hopes and Spilled Entrails: Retellings. Find her short fiction and poetry in various anthologies and magazines. She reads voraciously, and is usually hanging out with her dog. devanbarlow.com, Bluesky @devanbarlow.bsky.social.
Current Issue
9 Feb 2026

“I’ve never actually visited the pā before,” she said out loud. “Is this where they gather lāʻī to make the pūʻolo?” she asked. “Yes,” Benny responded, glancing to see where Nanea was pointing. “Here and in other places as well. Many of these ti have been growing for decades now.” She paused for a moment. “I think about all the work you guys do, you know, up in those offices, and I think that all of that work actually starts from right here, in the ground, all covered in the earth and the pōhaku and the ti. Most people don’t even know it, but it all starts right here.
sometime in the night, we heard rocking and knocking and rapping and tapping, a million trillion tiny feet
The triangles bred and twisted, replicating themselves.
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