Fencing Hummers

Fencing Hummers
With fancy wingwork, the hummers dance around the feeder on the fence,
Fighting, fighting, fighting
For food, for survival, for sheer competition, for territory.

One perches high on a branch above the feeder,
Watching , guarding his special feeding spot,
Then, as another jeweled green hummingbird nears the feeder,
He advances.
You can almost hear the announcement, “En garde”
As the other hummer leaves the feeder for a quick battle.
Swords at the ready, the wingwork is intricate, complicated, and so fast
It appears a blur, wings moving 50 times in a second, readying him to advance, then retreat.
One hummer cuts, while the other flicks.
They glide as they hover, moving their sword-like beaks in time
To an imaginary song of nature
Or a medieval song of competition
They thrust, parry, retreat, reprise. . . .
Swords at the ready continually,
They sip, dip, flip, hover, attack, counter-attack. . . .
Fencing hummers on the fence.