the dog will want to be let in

as you are/i am meditating —

the hawk

lands in tree at moment of thought

the dog

returns to screen door

at moment

of revelation

the hawk takes

off with its considerable weight

from tree in yard

right to

left      upward            higher

into       tree           two      houses

away      across      the alley.

it is of course

all transit

the two holly trees against the fence

the arrival of the hummingbirds

their departure

the small grey dove beneath

the slatted metal table

taking shelter in the rain

in the aftermath

of hurricane; the dog asleep

beside, inside, adjusting

to house now with her

two protectees matured and walking into

wide-spaced well-spaced parentheses

the way a hummingbird feeds, drinks, eats

is neither hurried nor slowed, it is simply

itself taking in nutrient in amount in

interval    bent neck/smooth back of head,

straightened head,   repeat, several times

in its manner,   at its table,   and

then to perch, or up above to hidden

or unconcealed branch above

in hackberry which it does

not disdain, and again to above

somewhere perhaps a thimble nest

is in-set; while another humming-

bird feeds, drinks, eats; it is

neither hurried nor is it slowed,

it is its time, not heron, time,

it is time of flutter,             again

appears      these moments ———— the hand

of infant      suspended mid air

for a moment unimaginably long

the air still imagined as a globe of

amniotic fluid

the leaf is suspended by a nearly invisible thread

the brown dog walks underneath the street address

a hummingbird makes three quick stops

at althea blossoms at the neighbor’s

plants, and the leaf of course is shape

of heart                                          turns

in breeze

warm, damp, heavy,      of seacoast

I am visited by hummingbirds; it is that

time of the year; all that is necessary is

to fill the feeder, to keep it clean, to

refill it; the parts of sugar to water

are one part sugar to four parts

water, boil, let cool, then keep

the extra nectar refrigerated; this

nectar in the feeder for these

hummingbirds may stay in place for

several days – but then it does go

bad and develop little black spots,

and it will make these working birds

ill as they are storing up for

travel   and so it is a reminder

to the self to think about the throat

and neck   and beak,   the tiny

little eyes of what delights

us,   when it arrives,    and comes

to us,   pauses alights,   what

flutters– what chooses,   for some

reason   or reasons   that point

in our gaze.