In preparation for a client session, I was setting up my healing room (a glassed-in porch with a glorious view over water and mountains), when suddenly I had an unexpected encounter with a tiny winged visitor. This poem evokes my experience…

Hummingbird

A hummingbird flutters into the open window
And enters my healing room
Buzzing and beating against the glass ceiling
Looking for a way out.

Who is this tiny messenger
Who dares to enter this sacred precinct?
Risking its life in the unknown
Eyed by three hungry cats.

It only seems to understand “up”
And beats uncomprehendingly upon the glass roof,
While inches below lies the open window and freedom,
Ignored in its instinctive flight.

I gently cup it in my hands.
It stops fluttering for a moment
And rests as I transport it
Down the short distance to its release.

Holding my hands outside
I barely open them and it is off,
Zooming southwards towards the trees.
And I am blessed by the memory of its lightness.

© Copyright 2002 by Gail Christel Behrend — All Rights Reserved