Nature's Way

In a Brazilian pepper tree, where branches V, 

an Anna's Hummingbird prepared her nest. 

Secured by spider webs and her presence, 

it lasted beyond days of wind and rain.

When the weather cleared, she tended 
to the nest's damage with fluff and leaves.

The hummingbird stayed vigilant on her nest 

once eggs appeared. At most, she left 

for five minutes an hour to take sips of nectar

from nearby orchid trees and hibiscus bushes. 

Crows and a Cooper's hawk circled, never far away. 
Their calls like clacks of castanets tainted the sky.

One day the hummingbird did not return 
to the nest by evening. Her click. click. 
click rose from the treetop.

Once the flannel cup held two pearls for safekeeping. 
Yet, when scents of nightblooming jasmine 
trailed on the breeze, only shell fragments remained.