On Lao Tzu, Ch. 18

HUMMINGBIRDS AND THE SUN

Pretending to be good,

we often forget the innocence of the sun

and the divinity of hummingbirds.

Terrorized by rape,

we tend to rage at our children, and to

think of that as love.

In despair of freedom, we ask that

the most dreadful men condescend

to be our masters.

Believing ourselves lost,

without protection in

space and time,

burdened by impotence,

We abandon the courage to see

that we are all as innocent as the sun

and divine, like hummingbirds.

- Don Brennan