- Vol. 09
- Chapter 05
Notes of a Bird Lover
A band of woman wander in the wild,
covered in leaves and flowers,
making bird calls to attract
the red-throated hummingbird.
We wore nature’s most attractive garb,
dressed to the nines, covered in glucose
we were on the rise, up on our toes, singing
through the bars of our human cages.
Tangled in the jungles of New York
we made our way through thick and thin,
becoming wafers of obfuscation, pretending
to be the very birds we hoped to attract.
We rubbed our throats till they bruised scarlet.
We mimicked their movements, falling
to our knees to kiss the inner folds
of the springtime marigold.
In the rural hours, from afar, we heard his
wondrous song, sweet as sun-warmed nectar
careening down along the northeast ledges, echoing
in our ears as we watched them navigate with awe.
Notes of a Bird Lover
Standing still in mid-air, they plunge
their elongated beaks into the colorful throats
of the Daffodils, extracting sweet nectar
while their tiny hearts race with excitement
Dreams fulfilled, we walk on, our minds filled
with the whirr of their wings and trying
to hum the broken melodies, our minds
incapable of piecing together the notes
I confess it was long ago, but now,
here in the trembling air, I need only
recollect the sighting to have him
return to me in moving form.