- Vol. 09
- Chapter 05
Image by Susan Fenimore Cooper
Spring Warning
Hmmmm. I believe I hear the humming birds.
Indeed, they sound more like bees than birds.
Yes, Amelia, you’re right.
Their wings beat eighty times a second
to keep them airborne …
they drop no bombs, nor do they shell
but can fend off an oriole, a hawk or a crow.
Small, deceptive, darting, they rest alert and ready.
The mighty and the innocent would do well to learn from them.
How beautifully they flit and hover …
like a persistent lover
who pierces the carpal
with a divided tongue
telling lies and drinking dry the
innermost secrets of the female flower.