10-1/4" square
Ink drawing printed over watercolor

Orchid Pollination III

In fact, they sign their contract uninformed.
The laws of nature don’t require “truth
In advertising,” so he is suborned
Against his kind by mimicked attributes.
He tries, in showers of pollen, to elope
With specious lady wasps or female bees,
That lead him on in undiminished hope,
Deflowering flowers’ perjured mimicry.
Some bee disguises instigate attack:
“Put up your dukes,” they say, “for territory.”
Furiously the actual bee strikes back —
The chump — and pollinates his enemies.
In elegant regalia they remain
Impassive, bystanders who rigged the game.