The bees must have overdrunk like Emily Dickinson suggested

I was noticing how the bees have left my front yard. I was reminded of Emily Dickinson's poem "I taste a liquor never brewed." Perhaps the bees overdrank and now have all burst like balloons that we popped last month on my kid's 10th birthday.

In "I taste a liquor never brewed," Dickinson masterfully captures the intoxicating beauty of nature. The poem likens the speaker’s delight in the natural world to the euphoria of drinking a divine, otherworldly liquor. From the "Tankards scooped in Pearl" to the "inns of molten Blue," Dickinson's vivid imagery invites readers to share in this ecstatic experience.

The whimsical notion of bees and butterflies getting drunk on dew and nectar adds a playful charm to the poem. It’s easy to imagine these tiny creatures, tipsy and joyous, much like the popped balloons that brought laughter and chaos to our backyard celebration. As the poem culminates with seraphs and saints observing the little tippler leaning against the sun, Dickinson reminds us of the boundless joy that can be found in simply reveling in the wonders around us.

I taste a liquor never brewed

- Emily Dickinson

I taste a liquor never brewed – 

From Tankards scooped in Pearl – 

Not all the Frankfort Berries

Yield such an Alcohol!

Inebriate of air – am I – 

And Debauchee of Dew – 

Reeling – thro' endless summer days – 

From inns of molten Blue – 

When "Landlords" turn the drunken Bee

Out of the Foxglove's door – 

When Butterflies – renounce their "drams" – 

I shall but drink the more!

Till Seraphs swing their snowy Hats – 

And Saints – to windows run – 

To see the little Tippler

Leaning against the – Sun!