Victoria is hosting our Quadrille Monday for today. A quadrille is a poetic form created by our own Bjorn Rudberg consisting of exactly 44 words (excluding the title) and usually using a prompted word in the body of the poem. Today the word is “fear”. come join us to read these jewels of poetry at: http://dversepoets.com/2017/07/31/quadrille-37-be-not-afraid/
Childhood Lost
I fear we have lost our childhood.
Children dressed as adults and
siring children –
All subject to drugsviolencepeerpressure.
But a hummingbird!
Fearless it goes about
Sipping buzzing
From nest to flower –
Oh! to return to childhood
On the wings of a hummingbird.

public domain image
Jul 31, 2017 @ 15:44:40
LOVE this…..so glad you wrote about childhood on the wings of humming birds. Perfect! 🙂
Jul 31, 2017 @ 15:50:03
I suspect it would be a wild ride on that hummingbird, but I wouldn’t mind taking it to get a child’s perspective again.
Jul 31, 2017 @ 15:51:56
Neither would I. I have about 15 hummingbirds around feeders. I watch them for hours. I’ve even seen young ones no bigger than the first digit of my little finger.
Jul 31, 2017 @ 15:58:18
A return to innocence. If only… Love the image of a hummingbird and flying on a magic carpet of feathers. ❤
Jul 31, 2017 @ 16:00:18
Thank you 🙂
Jul 31, 2017 @ 16:10:03
I think i’ve already gone back to mine. Hummingbirds are lots of fun to watch, we’re out to mom’s tonight. Will go to the birds tomorrow
Jul 31, 2017 @ 16:14:08
I wish I could go visit my mother. I’ll have to make do with the birds!
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Jul 31, 2017 @ 16:10:14
Childhood is not what is once was, or at least what we like to remember it once was. I love comparison to the hummingbird. They do seem to have no fear.
Jul 31, 2017 @ 17:00:26
No I do not believe they realize they are as tiny as they are!
Jul 31, 2017 @ 16:25:14
Lovely. And hummingbirds are fearless (at least the ones at my feeder are).
Jul 31, 2017 @ 16:59:59
Oh my goodness, they are fierce little dragons!
Jul 31, 2017 @ 18:10:42
Yes, I’ve heard the fierce, unexpectedly disgruntled sound when one finds another at her feeder.
Jul 31, 2017 @ 16:35:15
Clever turn on this one! Your truths are astoundingly real as I “collect my books and head on back to school.”
Jul 31, 2017 @ 16:59:27
Good luck at school. Don’t be a stranger!
Jul 31, 2017 @ 17:07:06
Thanks! I’ve set a goal of hitting dVerse at least once a week, but I know how the first month can be. My evenings find me drooling on the couch pillow and getting take-out food!
Jul 31, 2017 @ 16:36:34
A beautiful poem. I would love to see a hummingbird. They are still children behind the Nike shoes and the designer handbags.
Jul 31, 2017 @ 16:59:05
Some of them are still children. Alas, many of them are not…mini adults and that is so sad to see.
Jul 31, 2017 @ 16:49:10
Is there nothing more fearless than the hummingbird, so tiny among all the predators, and yet it flits about as if it hasn’t a care in the world! (I’m in agreement about the adult children, by the way).
Jul 31, 2017 @ 16:58:30
Yes they are fearless. I love to watch them chasing each other out of “their” territory.
Jul 31, 2017 @ 16:54:42
“But a hummingbird!”
Oh, the crux that this is. The reminder. The whir of wings, and a song of hope. Perfection, Toni.
Jul 31, 2017 @ 16:58:00
Thank you De. I watch the hummers for hours at my feeder. I have been rewarded with glimpses of the young ones no larger than the first digit of my little fingers. tiny dragons they are.
Jul 31, 2017 @ 17:06:53
think I’ve said before that I have never seen a live hummingbird – only on television. They are such neat little birds. I love the idea of them being fearless and the lines:
‘Oh! to return to childhood
On the wings of a hummingbird’.
Jul 31, 2017 @ 17:29:14
Lovely!
Jul 31, 2017 @ 18:24:42
O so lovely !
Jul 31, 2017 @ 18:28:11
Oh my goodness, this is so full of truth and beauty. I could weep at what our children today face. I grew up during the Korean war when we had to “duck and cover” and of course the cold war. My parents made sure we knew what healthy life choices were and we were held responsible. But now, I’m sounding like the old fart I am. Poor little people. And yet there are reasons for hope, too.
Jul 31, 2017 @ 18:38:51
A sadness: too many of our children are afraid of even a hummingbird. I had students last year who would duck in fear (no pun intended) if anything with wings flew overhead. The disease is deeper than you think.
Jul 31, 2017 @ 19:54:05
I did not know that hummingbirds were so fearless! We had our first ever sighting of one at our garden. It was captivating. Nicely done!
Jul 31, 2017 @ 23:33:18
“Oh! to return to childhood
On the wings of a hummingbird.”
Yes, please!!! *sigh*
Jul 31, 2017 @ 23:35:22
Hummingbirds are magical just like childhood. They go together nicely!
Aug 01, 2017 @ 00:27:00
Riding on the wings of a hummingbird sounds fun..it feels like the second half of your poem enacts youthful imagination allowing you to fly from the adult trap.
Aug 01, 2017 @ 00:27:00
Riding on the wings of a hummingbird sounds fun..it feels like the second half of your poem enacts youthful imagination allowing you to fly from the adult trap.
Aug 01, 2017 @ 07:30:46
Returning to childhood on the wings of a hummingbird. Lovely!
Aug 01, 2017 @ 13:29:38
I am so glad you liked that. It truly would be wonderful to fly away on the wings of a hummingbird.
Aug 01, 2017 @ 08:20:17
You took us on that flight. Wonderful.
Aug 01, 2017 @ 13:29:07
Thank you!
Aug 01, 2017 @ 09:24:39
Beautiful last line!
Aug 01, 2017 @ 15:59:09
A wonderful poem.
Aug 02, 2017 @ 00:43:50
Wow…loved this…so true!
Aug 02, 2017 @ 06:50:36
An wonderful and meaningful poem. What a message and What a way to deliver it! On the wings of hummingbird indeed!
Oct 28, 2017 @ 10:18:26
. !