Last week when my youngest daughter, Martha, set up her office on the back deck, she watched hummingbirds fighting at the feeder. It was one of those rare high pressure/ low humidity days with an actual breeze. She had to silence the wind chimes for her Zoom calls. Today, Martha’s office is back in New Orleans as power has returned.
Currently I am watching the rain bands of Hurricane Nicholas (now a tropical storm) fill up the bayou. The hummers are still coming. That’s a good sign.
My friend Molly Hogan in Maine has been watching these amazing birds, too, and taking amazing photos of them. She sent me this one.
For my students, since this is a virtual learning day due to the storm, I linked the photo to this Wonderopolis article and used one of the facts in my haiku.
Peach-sweet zinnia
Haiku draft, Margaret Simon
fanned by wingbeats 200
times per second: Zest!
Please write a small poem in the comments and reply to other writers with encouraging words. Thanks for being here.
Reflections on the Teche 
HUMMINGBIRD
Never still
but seeming so
a tease, a temptation
to try.
Nice alliteration!
Thanks, Rose!
tease, temptation, try…tickles the imagination.
Thank you! The photo was a great prompt!
I like how the more I think about this, the more nuanced it seems. Nice response!
Nice, Carol. I too am struck with the never stillness, but seeming so. This picture captures the stillness and reminds us of that. I like all the t alliteration words too.
Carol, never still, tease and temptation are perfect words to describe hummers.
Love the color of that zinnia!
The Hummingbird
zipping by zinnias,
upside down and
round and round—
nature’s helicopter
Helicopter is a great metaphor.
They do zip, don’t they! Perfect word!
Rose, I love your playful language, the rhythm and darting of your words flit like a hummingbird.
Rose, I agree with everyone’s comments about your poem. I especially love “zipping by zinnias” because of the consonance, assonance, and because your words perfectly describe the photo! You should try to get this poem published. I always call dragonflies helicopters, but your metaphor here works perfectly for a hummer, too.
I love how your poem focused on the interaction between the hummingbird and the zinnia. Here’s a very last minute, off-the-cuff response:
Hummingbirds
Hover! Whirr!
Perch! Dive!
In other words,
clearly
an accumulation
of verbs
clearly an accumulation of verbs!
Yes, indeed! That bird is continually full of action. What a great image for a poem about your little hummingbird, Molly.
Molly, “Hover! Dive! Perch! Dive!” are perfect action words for a hummer that you amazingly captured! Your poem is a good verb lesson for your 4th graders. I love your photo! I have been trying all summer to take a photo of a hummingbird or a hummingbird clearwing month without any luck. Butterflies are more my speed because I have taken lots of photos of them in my garden. Thank you for the inspiration.
What a sweet photo by Molly. Thank you for sharing it Molly and Margaret. I love how the hummingbird is captured in a nanosecond. You don’t see that very often. I love the phrase “peach-sweet zinnia.” It puts that picture right into my head. I too went to the Wonderopolis article and learned about the figure eights. Lovely! (What a great poetry prompt lesson you have shared for children.) Thanks, Margaret.
Flying figure eights
around lunch, sipping at a
lickety-split rate
I love that you got the figure eights fact in your poem. Lickety-split is such a fun word to say.
I love “lickety-split” too!
Denise, I absolutely love “flying” before “figure eights.” I also agree with Margaret and Molly on lickety-split and I love all your short /i/ assonance in every line! You should try to publish your poem.
Margaret, a gorgeous haiku and photo! I love “peach-sweet” and “fanned” for a verb before 200x per second is perfect! Here’s my tetractys draft, which was a fun form to try. Thank you for the link. I didn’t use 60 mph because that is the fastest speed. I’m also writing a poem about the ruby throated male hummingbird. Molly has amazingly captured the female ruby throated hummingbird, which has a white throat and white tipped wings. I have had both ruby throated male & females in my garden and hummingbird clearwing moths, but I’ve never been fast enough to take a pic of any. Thank you for your inspiration.
zip
zig zag
hummingbird,
my garden friend
escapes my lens 30 mph
Gail Aldous
They always zip past my lens too. Thanks for your poem and all your great comments.
Margaret, P.S. you should try to publish your poem.