Short Story #4

                                       The Bees

Harmony in the Boudoir

by Mark Strand

After years of marriage, he stands at the foot of the bed and
tells his wife that she will never know him, that for everything
he says there is more that he does not say, that behind each
word he utters there is another word, and hundreds more be-
hind that one. All those unsaid words, he says, contain his true
self, which has been betrayed by the superficial self before her.
"So you see," he says, kicking off his slippers, "I am more than
what I have led you to believe I am." "Oh, you silly man," says
his wife, "of course you are. I find that just thinking of you
having so many selves receding into nothingness is very excit-
ing. That you barely exist as you are couldn't please me more."

 
 This poem connects with the story, "The Bees" because the main character Gene does not tell his wife that he was previously married and has another son. His wife does not really want to hear all of that either. Gene knows he messed up in his past and tries to not make the same mistakes with his present wife and son. He soon starts to realize that several previous events are happening again and thinks that something else will happen and his wife will find out about his past life but she never will......