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f a Hummingbird. With his shaky hands, he gave me the picture. While it will never be confused with a Van Gogh, the drawing will always be sacred to me.</p><p id="81b0">Hummingbirds bring us sweetness and sunshine. There are not many life forms that do that. Thus I write a haiku in tribute to them.</p> <figure id="acc6"> <div> <div> <img class="ratio" src="http://placehold.it/16x9"> <iframe class="" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FeHxp9EOgf1A%3Ffeature%3Doembed&display_name=YouTube&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DeHxp9EOgf1A&image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FeHxp9EOgf1A%2Fhqdefault.jpg&key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=youtube" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" width="640"> </div> </div> </figure></iframe></div></div></figure><p id="6ec3">© 2022 <a href="undefined">Mark Tulin</a></p><div id="8f6f" class="link-block"> <a href="https://mftulin.medium.com/membership"> <div> <div> <h2>Join Medium with my referral link - Mark Tulin</h2> <div><h3>undefined</h3></div> <div><p>undefined</p></div> </div> <div>

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Hummingbird

Haiku and commentary

Photo on a Palm Springs bike path by the author, Mark Tulin

tiny hummingbird,

drawn to the sunrise’s nectar —

then flying backward

Hummingbirds are the smallest and most agile birds. They are the only birds that can fly backward.

They bring me joy whenever I’m lucky enough to see them. In our Palm Springs house, there was a hummingbird nest, and we watched the mother care for her babies and maintain the nest. We made sure not to disturb them.

They are more visible in the morning, and I see them along my walks and bike rides. They hover around certain flower buds, extracting their sweetness. The combination of a beautiful flower and a hummingbird is breathtaking.

I have always been fascinated with their rapid wing movement, which I’m told moves in a figure 8, a symbol of infinity.

A few years ago, I came out of a supermarket, and a homeless man asked me for some change. I gave him a couple of dollars, and he said he had a gift for me. It was a drawing of a Hummingbird. With his shaky hands, he gave me the picture. While it will never be confused with a Van Gogh, the drawing will always be sacred to me.

Hummingbirds bring us sweetness and sunshine. There are not many life forms that do that. Thus I write a haiku in tribute to them.