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Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash. Leonard Cohen

Friday, August 9, 2013

On Observing a Hummingbird

(AP Photo/Terry Sohl) (2008 AP)
I watch a hummingbird feed
She seems so tiny and frail
She tends perpetual need
Her death assured should she fail

Her beak a threadlike syringe
Her heart drum rolls in her breast
She flits among flowers' fringe
Her wings too nervous to rest

A wisp, she timidly flies
The wind can shift her in flight
Her will, her slightness belies
For few won't fall to her fight

So close to life she must cling
A strength imbues fragile things.

15 comments:

Lisa A. Williams said...

So nice! I love hummingbirds and you've done a marvelous job describing them.

Brian Miller said...

ah love that last line...and i love hummingbirds as well...have them meeting me on the porch pretty regularly these days...very nice...

just could not find my rhythm in this challenge...but def enjoyed reading...smiles.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

I love this, especially the closing couplet. Mother hummingbirds and mother Anythings - made of the same strong stuff.

Sumana Roy said...

beautiful lines...like the wonderful bird with hidden strength.

not displayed said...

I would love to see a real hummingbird. Your words only make me want to more

Marcoantonio Arellano (Nene) said...

Very nice Lolamouse. We have a couple that visit our sugar water feeders in our front picture window and in our back patio. They are beautiful and I love your reference: 'So close to life she must cling/A strength imbues fragile things'

Gracias mi amiga

Mary said...

I just love to watch humming birds, but so seldom catch a glimpse of them.. You captured their spirit in the words of this poem.

Kerry O'Connor said...

What a delicate little sonnet this is. I am most partial to hummingbirds, and really enjoyed your description.

Beachanny said...

The first thing I noticed that it was a kind of mini sonnet - in trimeter rather than pentameter and with the meter being two iambs and an anapest in each line. The quickness and the rhyme give us the 'feel' of the bird as much as the text. Really well done! Thank you.

Unknown said...

I love the status of fragile hero you give to this tiny bird.
Beautifully penned

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

They are indeed amazing little creatures.

Suzy said...

Her wings to nervous to rest - that described her well. Very nicely done.
Dropping by from the Verse First Linkup

Anonymous said...

This is so beautiful, exquisite writing =)

The new prompt is up =)

Maude Lynn said...

Beautifully done. I love your word choices.

Susie Clevenger said...

This is beautiful..You have spoken so well of the immense strength in such a fragile creature. I love how you ended it!