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Apodiformes trochlidae, by Nancy Schmalz

Apodiformes trochlidae
(unfooted small bird)

I am a hummer; I bustle
from blossom to blossom all day.
My feet are too small to be useful —

no matter: I hover, buzz forward and backward;
my tongue probes lobelia’s petals,
her column of crimson delights.

My chicks are asleep in their soft woven nest. 
I lined it with milkweed and stitched it with web.
Their dreams are of nectar, each drop sweet as honey.

When summer is over I’ll take to the sky,
toward a horizon of flowers that beckon
in colors more radiant than sun.

Nancy Schmalz, Mineral Point