We stood in the parking lot of the bird sanctuary on Friday. The we included Sue Leaf, the author of the biography about my great-grandfather, Thomas Sadler Roberts. The we included four great-grandchildren. We had just returned from a bird walk in the snow, during which we had seen eighteen of twenty hoped-for birds. Sue told us she had to make sure her hummingbird feeder was ready. No matter the weather, no matter the temperature, the hummingbirds always arrive May 10 to her backyard. They know the food will be there.
She says the hummingbirds arrive
On May 10
Every year.
Rain
Shine
Wind
Snow
The hummingbirds arrive
May 10.
They do not care
Whether the climate has changed.
They do not care
If it is an unusually warm spring
Or if snow still covers
The ground.
They arrive May 10.
They do not wait
For perfect weather.
They know
They will be fed.
Let it be
The way it is
Already.
May it be
The way it is
Already.
May we simply know
Like hummingbirds.
They simply know
They will be cared for
When they arrive
May 10.
