Did you know that hummingbirds live three to five years?
This morning, I went to a cafe down the street to do some writing, and had 20 minutes until the cafe opened. Rather than drive to an open one, I decided to take a meditative walk during that time at the park down the street. It is a beautiful crisp morning, but just warm enough to go for a comfortable walk. In my short walk, I almost immediately came across a hummingbird drinking nectar from a bush of flowers. As I stood there watching the hummingbird for a moment, I saw how quickly it moved, how fast it beat its wings to quickly move from one flower, to the next, to the next. What good vision and maneuverability it had to move so quickly, yet precisely. I then wondered how a hummingbird perceived its surroundings and time. To a human, the beat of the hummingbird's wings is very fast, but surely the hummingbird does not see life in the same way. I then thought, "How does a hummingbird perceive time?" I was inspired to write the poem below: Did you know that hummingbirds live three to five years? That's an average of course, an imperfect measure you see For each day a hummingbird flaps its wings It enjoys the fruit of life, its beautiful things Taking up the space in the sky Unafraid to soar high and low, many wing beats fill each second 70 times! It lives the precious gift of life Aflight Each flower providing sweet smelling nectar The flying vessel takes it quickly, flitteringly Up, down, backwards, forwards No time to waste! For the hummingbird does not know time It only knows the pleasure of nectar It's hedonic smell and taste The beauty of its colors Appearing to take it in in haste To measure the life of a hummingbird In heartbeats perhaps? That's 1,000 times persecond, or 70 wing flaps But its life cannot be measured No measure of time, space, or suvival Perhaps best measured in joy, taking in the pleasures of nectar That way life is a treasure
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