[Editors’ note: We’re hitting the pause button on our miCRo feature for the steamy vacation month of July, so this is our last piece until August. See you then!]
James Davis May
Managing Editor Lisa Ampleman: James Davis May’s carefully crafted poem below takes the abstract studies of ornithology and gender studies, and makes them particular: A singular father in his backyard, dealing with hummingbirds that are behaving like pests. His daughter, an attentive observer herself, who notices something unexpected about the birds. In this lyrical meditation, May describes aggression in ways that remind us of contemporary conversations about masculinity, though the poem has wider concerns than that. The masterful ending gives the poem a sense of lift, a relief during a time when heavy thoughts pull us down.
To hear James read his poem, click below:
Ruby-Throated
I’ve seen dogs guard rawhide this fiercely,
their hackles raised as defense
becomes its own pleasure, the way
an argument craves itself or a sweet wound
in the mouth keeps calling for the tongue.
And as the summer ends, these tiny birds
become only more violent in their vigil:
One male positions himself in a nearby birch
and waits for invaders to try the feeder,
usually letting the other males drink
a moment before he charges twenty yards
in half a second, too often buzzing me
as I read on the deck. So when one assault
causes me to spill my drink, I pledge
to take the feeder down or at least not to refill it,
sounding like the father yesterday in the park
who confiscated the ball his boys fought over.
But then my daughter shows me how
occasionally in between the battles
a female, her colors muted but no less
beautiful, ascends from an unseen perch
to drink. We watch her lean into and then
away from the feeder’s fake yellow flowers
before returning to her hidden branch,
a flight that sounds like a fan or the wind
in a girl’s ears as she swings, watching boys
fight over what she’d never want for herself.
James Davis May is the author of Unquiet Things (LSU Press, 2016), which was a finalist for the Poets’ Prize. In 2016, he won the Poetry Society of America’s Cecil Hemley Memorial Award. He teaches creative writing at Young Harris College.
For more miCRo pieces, CLICK HERE.
