hummingbird

hummingbird

(for Lisa Lenard-Cook)

she of the whirlwinds,

tiny thundercloud and falcon’s eye

rainbow from the painted hills

what songs you conjured forth

in the careful tending of a sea of hearts

voices breaking as they read

one tiny word after another

you darted sharply

maestra, concertina

careful catching, lest they fall, careful

tending of the timid, careful

charting of the heights and valleys

if one of them cried

you held the silence for the whole wide room

what will we do without the bright bohemian of you

the owl’s quiet cluck

a dorothy parker sigh, a shrug

and your silly jingle jangle down the halls

drinking in the room, and

smiles, serene, composed

bright desert bird bedecked

her tiny plumage penned

her sharpened courage

her pointed tongue, poised pen

patient passage

little falcon of the hills

swoops now above the silent sage

whirlwind of the desert sands

rainbow bridge

river’s rush

ruby throat

shimmering wings