Today at the dVerse Poetry Pub the Quadrille prompt is “swift.” Because I had been bird watching this morning, I thought I would give this 44 word poem a try. Then I started looking at swift’s definitions and synonyms (like I do) and found the noun definitions very interesting. The birds that are called swifts are closely related to hummingbirds and are also the cave bird in Asia that make the nests for nest soup.
A very vocal hummingbird started hanging out in my cherry-plum tree this winter. He’s always trying to show off by making a loud, sharp chirp. I don’t know how well he’s doing, but I’ve seen three hummingbirds looking at each other in my tree recently. I love that he perches at the tip of the very tallest branch, attempting some minuscule dominance.
Swiften
tiny
humming-
bird, a swift’s
closest relation, chased
from his perch in the cherry-plum’s
top branch by three sparrows wanting, but he’s not gone
a snappy chirp and he dive-bombs, headlong, a kamikaze at breakneck,
dispatches the intruders and poses, prominent against the clouded sky
Experience Writing 
As amazing as they are to see in flight, it’s almost disconcerting to see one perched. I removed a feeder due to the presence of cats, but there’s a branch on one of my oaks that seems to be a favorite every year for one hummingbird. I wonder if it keeps a nest high up in the tree.
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I would love to have hummingbirds close… didn’t know they were related to swifts.
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Maria, there is something about hummingbirds and plum trees that goes well together. There’s gotta be a haiku in there somewhere. Great photo captures. When I see them they are moving.
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Very nicely done! I love watching the humming birds. As you noted they can be very aggressive for their size. I have seen them chasing each other off the feeder as well!
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Kind of like King Of The Hill without the hill, eh?
Awesome telling, MLB!
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Thank you.
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I love this. I love the shape. I’ve been watching birds leaving trees,and they drop into the air and then swoop up – like the shape of this poem. I wish we had humming birds, they are so beautiful to watch.
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I’m glad you saw the shape of the poem they way I intended. Thank you.
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Cheering for the plucky red-headed hummer! Cool photos too 🙂
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Thank you. I can’t wait until the sun comes out to capture his true colors.
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I love this poem! As I was reading it I was thinking about the contradiction of a hummingbird’s wings, which flap so swiftly they almost seem to be standing still.
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Thank you. I am so excited to watch and listen to these hummingbirds this spring.
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