Ode to a Hummingbird

by RC James
Babilu
Honorable Mention, November 2021
Judged by Terence Culleton


Tiny twin
      fluttering fans
  dart up to hover
            just there,
    beak fronting,
        losing its length
            to bud inside.

        Wonder of airs,
    elite sharp
            drawing sap succulent,
        stand we aghast
              at the seminal speed,
          entranced
                    by powers
                            so small,
      whoops a daisy,
              oh my oh my,
    who can say
              so quickly?
                    we watch
            and marvel aghast.

      But where are…
                    oh where?
              The wings are only a blur,
          speed redundant,
                          so smooth
                slick colors apparent.

Silent whirring
          subconscious twirling,
                  right there,
      catch the miniature sign
                            of rapidity
                      coursing through.

          What we know
              we can only dissemble,
          fully performing
                      this wonder of stutter flight
              alive to us,
                        it goes,
                                      it goes,
                                disappears
                      into imagination
                                    bereft of action
                longing
                    for the next sighting,
                                        alive
                          to its quicksilver promise.