This Isn't About Pretty - March 30., 2026

a hummingbird plucks wispy threads

from the fringe of palm leaves,

pulls apart the geometry of a spider

web and picks up lint and other

tendrils of human byproducts

and with the needle of her beak

weaves a soft cradle for the

next generation of blurry-

winged addicts of nectar

she hovers at face level

perhaps for a loose eyelash

or hair on my brow, a striking

accessory for the nest

but nest building isn’t about

pretty as she zooms off,

the timer inside her ticking

                       louder and louder and louder