I Admire
©July 31st, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
The hummingbird that hovers
Magical and suspended in a sea of perfume
Drunk with nectar and delight
Whirring silently before taking off:
I admire her.
That cat that walks, soft-padded
Sure and silent, unblinking
Like a lighthouse in a sea of darkness
As it watches for a night mouse:
I admire him.
That dog, whose nose senses changes
And shifts in mood, whose presence
Heals the heart-broken, and whose smile
Chases away clouds that gather:
I admire her.
That girl, as she does somersaults
Like a being from non-space
Filled with sheer lightness of self,
Loving the air as it moves around her:
I admire her.
That woman who moves, sylph-like
Through bursts of colour in her garden
Whispering love to flowers, and
Coaxing vegetables to grow, as she works:
I admire her.
That man who holds his wife aloft,
As she cries quietly in a spasm of grief
For her sudden sense of a life adrift,
And as she feels her strength ebbing:
I admire him.
And the mother who holds her family,
When her husband isn’t around,
And her children look to her for hope
And she cannot surrender to sorrow:
I admire her most of all.
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