THE MORNING POEM
Empty Branch In the Orchard - Mary Oliver
THE MORNING POEM
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To have loved is everything. I loved, once
A hummingbird who came every afternoon-the freedom loving male-
Who flew by himself to sample the sweets of the garden
To sit on a high, leafless branch with his red throat gleaming.
And then, he came no more. And I’m still waiting for him, ten years later,
To come back, and he will, or he will not.
There is a certain commitment
That each of us is given, that has to do with another world
If there is one. I remember you, hummingbird. I think of you every day
Even as I am still here, soaked in color, waiting, year after honey-rich year.