The Bees of the Invisible

A collection of the Wally Swist's most mystical work, The Bees of the Invisible regards nature, spirit, and an array of personal memories—recollections from an elder's point of view. From the first poem in the book,—“A Wild Beauty,” describing heirloom roses—to the last—“Ley Lines,” a commemoration of a longstanding relationship where the poet finds "grace in laying down a memory"—this collection is one of celebration and praise. Also, reflecting the poet's lifelong admiration of the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke, there are adaptations of several of Rilke's poems not necessarily well-known to many readers, as well as adaptations of work by Georg Trakl, Tu Fu, and others. Most ostensible of these adaptations are Rilke's Das Marienleben, a thirteen-poem sequence dedicated to the Virgin Mary originally written in 1900. The Bees of the Invisible is the third book of a poetic trilogy published in recent years by Shanti Arts—the others being Candling the Eggs (2016) and The Map of Eternity (2018). Together these books represent Swist's most mature and accomplished work, and by far his most mystical writing.