Hummingbirds at the Feeder in August

The dwarf flyers dogfight,
Emerald backs edging
To buff, figure eights and
Double barrel rolls,
All for a refueling perch

On the tanks of pink sugar
Water provided by the
Scarlet and yellow petaled
Falsehoods hanging from our
Small grey-green side porch. The

Birds rage over these ten square
Feet, like Liston or Ali,
Who floated like a butterfly
But couldn’t hover like a
Hummer. Backstroking, they

Float, folding the air into
Neat sheet-like stacks, blackened
Tails flared in anger and
Accusation. They surge back
And forth like an erratic

Feathered pendulum till
One jet cedes the air but
Two more shoot from holly
Twigs, a tornado of
Enraged plumage, jade

Cream and onyx, resembling
Nothing so much as a
Perpetual motion
Machine composed of wings
Feet and bills. I slowly