People struggle for change because they can feel threatened. Natasha Trethewey explores this idea in her poem, “Carpenter Bee.”
In the poem, she describes watching a carpenter bee’s home all winter long and then, in the spring, discovered that she had left her nest to explore the vernal flowers. However, some workmen have covered up her home leaving her “confused, disoriented, doubting even / her own homing instinct” (Trethewey 21 – 22).
I love this poem because it reminds me that nothing and no one can change without it changing someone or something else. Additionally, I love this poem because it refines the question stated above. People not only struggle for change but people struggle with change.
While I can’t be certain, I assume the carpenter bee’s home was covered up because she was perceived as a threat. Was she really though? I’m left wondering, just as the poet wonders, about the things and people in my life that I have left assuming they would not change only to return and feel myself lost or out of place. As Trethewey writes, the only thing left in tack is our memory.
This poem shows us we don’t always want to or need to change, but, in fact, sometimes others change the world for us. Threthewey ignores exploring why the workmen sealed up her home because the “why” is not important. What is important to know is that our world will inevitably change around us every day–for better or for worse–and all that may remain is our memories–“snug, ordered, certain” (Trethewey 31).
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