Was a hummingbird
Sitting on a twig
Resting
Completely
Still.
They whir by our heads
Sounding like a motor
At speeds up to thirty-three
Miles per hour.
Of course everyone knows
That they drink nectar from flowers
But did you know
Their tongues move in and out of their mouths
Thirteen times per second!
The most famous, the smallest of birds
Always in a hurry
Does everything so fast
Even its metabolism
A hundred times faster
Than an elephant's
But of course
If you know
That metabolism
Increases as size
Decreases
Then that's no surprise.
But perhaps the most
Thrilling thing about
Hummingbirds
Is how their feathers
Bend light
To make them
Iridesce.
Inspired by watching hummingbirds at the feeder and today's final (how sad!) NaPoWriMo Prompt to write a poem that incorporates interesting or strange facts.
For more interesting hummingbird facts (also the source of the facts presented here) check this page.
Dear readers, if you know of other writing challenges (or perhaps just have a personal challenge for me) please let me know in the comments. I've so enjoyed this challenge and will miss it quite a bit.
-Sharon
I love those hummingbird facts (many I didn't know) and your poem! You have done so many good and fun ones this month.
ReplyDeleteThe main writing challenge I know is NaNoWriMo, if you can get into writing a novel. I used to do it every year and there is a really fun online community. In the summer, they have Camp Nanowrimo, which is a smaller version-- you might want to check it out. Keep writing!