"Humming Bird" By Felice Holman

This poem speaks to me on so many levels.  First and foremost, hummingbirds remind me of home.  My mom and dad have a hummingbird feeder outside their kitchen window in Maine, and during the summer we are often entertained by their constant whirring about while eating dinner.  It's there that I've seen the "glistened green" and "brightened blur" upclose.  It's as if their feathers are covered with a glossy sheen. 

I also like this poem because of the way Felice Holman wrote it.  She includes alliteration in the first line, and all of those "W" sounds actually sound like the motor-like flapping of a hummingbird's wings.  She also includes a simile in that line with "wound wires."  It gives me an image of tightly wound wires that are let go and unravel.

Finally, I think the poet is using the hummingbird as a metaphor of a thought.  In the last line there is "a moment fanning, and then gone," just like a thought.  It's there in one instant and then gone in the next.  And like a hummingbird, you better appreciate it before it's too late.

Image from:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/rmb3588photo/8034514714/in/photolist-8aoGsv-dVXNAX-d29Xfj-cdYZ1G-6r4mXM-6WpTni-98uWbe-jBzP8k-s7K4-4Ym8tU-jBzQ8X-2pW35i-deYZiL-7W5GYA-jsjST-wB7a-6bDAqU-eUhsBm-kZeVG2-8pCWWs-J1aS-8sCgwg-8pCZ2s-8pzN7n-wUCAJ-bqD5sw-bqD5vL-bqD5To-bDxZP2-85ibe-5aaj3R-8imKaJ-5aexLQ-4VvzjA-8onnrY-8onow3-8onn9y-8ojc9k-8ojcpc-br48EC-6LFEh3-4Ym9A9-jsHLSs-jsFyqt-jsHd1e-jsHr4D-jsHZ9w-jsK8V9-jsGZGr-jsHoPu