George was an empty vessel
With an empty heart and an empty head.
Inside of him was light and spacious
But unused he would be better off dead.
Looking for a hollow human body
There arrived an ambitious swarm of bees
Who moved in and learnt the controls
To make George walk, jump and sneeze.
News of this strange residence spread
And attracted more like-minded bees
To come and find new homes and jobs
In George’s intestines, ears and knees.
Every morning, just after sunrise,
George’s mouth would open wide
And out would come an insect army,
A buzzing black and yellow tide.
Others spent the day inside George,
Making improvements to their new hive
So that it would be a comfortable home
For the bees that worked nine to five.
And so, powered by the bees,
George bumbled around the town
And became well known as a curiosity,
Like a street performer or clown.
But the bees were actually hard at work,
Gathering pollen and making honey.
Now that they operated within a human
They could start to make their own money.
They pushed their produce from his mouth
And dribbled the sweet fluid into jars.
But unable to sell it in supermarkets
They had to stumble George around bars.
He would woozily buzz to the clientele,
Who were mostly scared or amused
And those that had enjoyed a few drinks
Bought some because they were confused.
Those that bought it were rewarded
The honey tasted good on toast or bread.
But George’s regulars were the only ones
Who noticed his eyes were looking red.
His eyes were red, his nose was snotty,
And they couldn’t control his sneeze.
Hayfever’s not a familiar word to them,
Anti-histimines make no sense to bees.
They were furious that George was useless,
Round here they had to do everything
And one young bee became so frustrated
That he plunged into George his sting.
It turned out he was allergic to that too
And George went into anaphylactic shock
He began to itch, shake and vomit then fainted,
Smashing his head on an inconvenient rock.
There followed a mass exodus from his body
George’s murderers fled before anyone saw,
They abandoned their honey and scarpered,
Leaving George an empty vessel once more.
Digestive Press 