You can hear the heartbeat of hummingbirds, How they pit-pat above the flowers’ open mouths, Tasting, sampling the sweetened air, In the embrace of springtime’s burgeoning, Caught in the whirl of petal and color. I hold a crystal cup in my palms, Filled with blossoms and day’s breath, Surrounding their buzzing life, While the sun smiles down, warm and piercing, And I drift in the overflow of it, Riding the currents of a moment, When all of nature distills into quiet joy, Freeing the soul into a dance of light.

• Anne Sexton