Drinking Gold

Hummingbird

hummingbird

magenta-green and white

carrier of light and wind

from the south you came singing

a high shrill whistle weighted with rain

everywhere you flew the grasses bowed in prayer

and a greenness came to the land as your song was heard

your wings rushed the clouds

to bring sweet wet seed from the skies

and everywhere you looked was singing

–Harold Littlebird

(Voices of the Rainbow: Contemporary Poetry by Native Americans edited by Kenneth Rosen, pp.210-211)

Harold Littlebird was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and presently lives In Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a Pueblo Indian. Littlebird’s artistic work consists of writing and pottery.

Of the four directions, the south is a place of creation and renewal. The hummingbird brings new life to the world: “from the south you came singing.” The hummingbird sings the world alive. “And a greenness came to the land as your song was heard.” The hummingbird is divine and impregnates the land with song. “ And everywhere you looked was singing.”

This poem inspired me to write a short poem:

Drinking Gold

drink golden nectar

from the sun

overflowing cup

rains sun drops

illuminating

the earth

Photo by Kevin Dooley at Flickr Creative Commons (license)