Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna), EOS photograph
I never knew you lived here all through Winter
Standing on the highest branch of that low tree
Every day except for three north cold splinters
That decided to stay and play in a winter freeze
Sensing my presence you fluttered your wings to see
Black bark was bursting with buds under your feet
Springing forth with red then green dogwood leaves
Before cream colored flowers can laugh above the path
The leaves and flowers play invisible magicians
As the Sun strains closer and stays longer to watch
For just as long as leaves last and bees are fooled
Hummingbird, your spring arrives surrounding you
The size of a ping pong ball and the weight of a nickel
But your seed of life is as grand as any seal in any sea
Other birds follow the changing river to find some place
A place that I can never remember but I will always know
So, like you, somehow I knew spring would come
Now, it is vibrating to end the cold nights
As in life, it is drawn around me like a robe
Comfortable and familiar but not quite perfect
And although I don’t know how to make it better
It is far beyond anything I could ever imagine
It works magic, offering everything and twice more
So, in some way like you, Anna, I must fly too
