The bat felt a malaise building
Flew from her nest though the sun was  still bright
Seeking the nectar of the sweetest flower
To quench her thirst and restore her might 

As she slumped on a rock by the meadow 
A bee bobbed by on the summer breeze
Intrigued by this creature of night 
Able to sense her dis-ease

Can I help? Asked the bee 
buzzing lazily
The bat cracked an eye 
but could not awake
I need nectar from the sweetest of flowers 
Only this can quench the thirst I need slake 

You’re in luck hummed the bee
as she zipped in the sky 
For I’m an expert on flowers myself 
I shall return with the nectar you seek
Do not worry.
All will be well

The bat watched on from her perch in awe 
As the bee combed the meadow from flower to flower 
Pollen jumped from the centre to greet her
The bat witnessed the truth of the bee’s flower power
Before long the bee had returned
With the nectar she promised the bat
The bat drank long and deep
She felt much better after that

What did you do? Asked the bat in amazement 
Unsure of the magic that she had just seen
The bee explained while searching for nectar
She collected pollen to take for her queen 
The bee told of the positive charge 
That lived in her vivid stripes
Electricity that made pollen jump
from flowers to bees of all types 

That’s amazing! enthused the bat
A superpower of that there’s no doubt 
What else are you able to do
that I can only dream about? 
The bee buzzed on in abashment
as she considered her natural gifts 
I can tell when a storm is coming 
she said
I can sense atmospheric shifts

The bat was now feeling much better
Not just from the drink but infused by the light
that burns inside when discovering
there’s much more to this world than is in plain sight 

But what about you? asked the bee turning tables
Is it true your days are lived by the gleam of moonlight?
How can you possibly fly
in the darkest depths of night?
It was the bats turn to blush bashful
As she thought of the ease with which she flew
Guided by sounds ultrasonic
Mapping patterns of the world in her view 

It’s nothing special, she told the buzzing bee
Bats are made to live this way
It’s not super
just a way of being 
To this the bee replied
Touché 

They pondered in silent reflection
At their worlds turned upside down
The bee guided by electricity
The bat feeling her way using sound

Perhaps, said the bee
breaking silence
Our gifts aren’t super in the sense that we think
Perhaps there’s more to this world than we see
Perhaps we’re only given a glimpse
of all the marvels and the wonders
that work together to make this beautiful earth
But in meeting you I am certain of one thing: 
we each play a part of true worth 

Warmed by their discoveries
The bat and the bee went their separate ways 
Occasionally meeting by twilight 
or dawn
to share in the findings they had made
Both on a voyage of discovery 
senses open to the path lit by sights that amaze 
While they flew by the bright 
of the dark and the light
The love in their hearts healed in unforeseen ways 

---

Bees have been appearing to me in close quarters over the past couple of weeks, but when my dad sent me a picture he’d taken of a bat on a piece of garden furniture it felt right for their story to weave together.

This was one of the most interesting research topics I’ve done for a poem. I had no idea that bee’s are sensitive to the Earth’s electromagnetism and that when positively charged they actually attract the pollen from negatively charged flowers! In fact, I’d never connected flowers and electricity at all!

As for bats, it turns out the saying ‘blind as a bat’ isn’t accurate as most of them have eyes that can see perfectly fine, but being nocturnal it’s natural for them hunt at night using their echolocation to map surroundings.

There are so many ways to see the world!

Imagine if we humans were more aware that the way we see the world is only a snapshot of the complexities that exist; there is so much we can’t even put into concepts, never mind words. What might exist already that we haven’t even imagined yet? And what amazing things might we be able to bring into existence with our imaginings?