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76 Upon฀Freeing฀the฀Ruby-Throated฀Hummingbird฀ Beak-Stuck฀in฀a฀Screen฀Door There’s฀cresting฀Quandary฀Peak,฀oh฀mountain of฀the฀human฀condition.฀There’s฀Mt.฀of฀the฀Holy฀Cross roped฀in฀rain฀and฀fog฀so฀thick฀we฀missed the฀glacial฀cross฀Longfellow’s฀sonnet฀made฀famous for฀a฀slim฀generation’s฀attention฀span.฀There’s summiting฀Mt.฀Elbert฀when฀Deb฀was฀pregnant, our฀daughter฀bagging฀her฀first฀peak฀in฀utero, or฀was฀it฀weeks฀before฀when฀part฀of฀us฀crossed over฀to฀her?฀Those฀times฀I฀rose฀above some฀other฀worldly฀body.฀I฀stood฀at฀the฀edge, still฀do,฀my฀breath฀fast฀and฀shallow, nose฀pressed฀against฀the฀thin฀scrim that฀gives฀a฀little฀and฀thus฀gives฀nothing, oh฀scrim฀between฀the฀known฀and฀not, oh฀lousy฀metaphor฀for฀death— this฀a฀problem฀and฀the฀beauty฀we฀inhabit, or฀do฀I฀mean฀embody? Look,฀he฀hung฀there,฀my฀brother,฀beak-stuck and฀sun-stroked,฀begging฀one฀more฀chance, anthem฀of฀those฀who฀sigh฀Oh฀way฀too฀often. He’d฀nearly฀crossed฀over฀but฀to฀what? Plucked฀free,฀he฀feasted฀on฀sugar฀water, iridescent฀electric฀trembling,฀pilgrim฀and฀homeboy. And฀what฀of฀his฀crested฀moments? There’s฀trumpet฀flower฀till฀its฀red฀throat฀wilts฀silent. 77 There’s฀monkshood฀till฀it฀folds฀to฀seeds’฀reprieve— how฀these฀things฀we฀love฀add฀up,฀oh฀tweedle฀dee, as฀they฀count฀down. ...

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