The hummingbird in this painting by artist JoAnn Fallstone becomes a metaphor for the writing of a piece of prose poetry. Art can inspire words onto paper, adding another layer of meaning to the story the painting already portrays.

The Poet Within

by Carol Mann

A Prose Poem

My inner poet is an exquisite hummingbird,

darting from flower to flower, from sip to sip,

savoring at long last the nectar of a solitary bloom.

She lingers, swoops away, returns, ready to play

with a poetic line. But the words flit and quiver,

fluttering amid scribbles and erasures. Over time,

phrases emerge, shiny and luminescent, to reveal a

white rose’s perfumed scent, the aroma of fresh

lemons, the forlorn oboe of Peter and the Wolf,

a lover’s touch. She flies, seeking multi-hued buds

of perception, to discover flowers of truth and beauty.