Entry One: Hass

"A Story About the Body"
Robert Hass, 1989

"He walked back to his own cabin through
the pines, and in the morning he found a small
blue bowl on the porch outside his door. It
looked to be full of rose petals, but he found
when he picked it up that the rose petals
were on top; the rest of the bowl -- she must have
swept them from the corners of her studio --
was full of dead bees."




The custom of giving flowers as a gift has been something practiced by many for decades upon decades. They're given as a token of love and affection, for the majority of the time. They're also something given in a time of grief, as a small comfort to ease the pain of a loss or other traumatic event. Their soft petals are soothing, their scent gentle and refreshing. Flowers are a breath of fresh air.

In the case of the artist, however, these flowers conceal the much more grotesque stash of dead bees. I immediately found it interesting that the artist would spend time collecting the little bodies of the dead insects around her studio. As well as how she went the distance to conceal them with flower petals, that must've taken more time to gather and set up. It's a very elaborate prep time for something that, to everyone who's read the short story, very abstract.

Personally, I see this bowl as a symbol of the relationship between the composer and artist. Both of their surfaces were pretty and alluring, which brought them closer. The bees hidden beneath the petals are the stark reminder of their true selves, which aren't as pretty or tempting as the surface seemed to be. Even so, bees and flowers share a symbiotic relationship, meaning without one, the other doesn't survive. Bees pollinate flowers, which ultimately makes more flowers and keeps them alive. Also, bees use pollen as a food source, and it strengthens and supports the colony.

The little bowl on the composers doorstep is a reminder of what all humans are; appealing on the outside, with a rather harsh interior that isn't so pleasant to see.

In the quite literal sense, the bees are the artist's mastectomy; it's a not very appealing truth that's been well hidden over the time she's seen this composer. Whether the fact was hidden due to fear or the lack of opportunity to share the truth until the very moment it's uttered in the story, I'm not entirely sure. But the moment and delivery of the mastectomy is very important; it's the moment when the artist shows that, she too, has bees she's kept hidden from the public eye.

The composer shares the fact that he has metaphorical bees hidden when the artist does; her confession is what reveals them, because the composer is unable to handle the news he's been given. Admittedly, it is quite a shock, and it's very hard to blame him for reacting in the way he does. Even though I found myself hating him for how he acted, because despite the artists confession, what else about her as changed? Nothing, right?

Well, bees have been known to strike fear in many. So maybe that fear was more than the composer could grapple with.