Interpretation
by Amber Leffler
Great Grandma, with
half-gypsy blood, could tell;
when bees crawled through
your window in a dream,
it meant a fire in the house,
a burn for both your hands.
Because of this, she never married
out of love. Although my blood
is barely gypsy, I can tell;
when she crawls through
my window in a dream,
it means I am a fool
to go barehanded into beehives
for a taste of honey, fool
to think my house is not on fire,
and I won’t get burned.
Amber Ridenour (formerly Amber Leffler) is the co-editor of Nightbomb Press. Her work has previously appeared in Gumball Poetry, Quill and Parchment, Mirror Northwest, Slightly West, and Blown Out: Portland’s Indie Poets as well as several self-published chapbooks. She lives and performs poetry in Portland, Oregon.
