I originally wrote this poem as a piece for my 11th grade literature class. While most of my assigned writings don't usually turn out beautiful or even above average as far as the quality of the writing, I am very proud of this poem. Our assignment was to write imagism poetry following certain guidelines. For example, the poem had to be rather short, describe something physically and may or may not have a deeper meaning. One of the interesting qualities about imagist poetry is that the poems are given meaning by the listeners, not by the poet.

However, my poem diverges from this path because I intentionally hinted towards a specific meaning, similar to how a photographer might edit his/her photo in a specific way to bring attention to a certain subject in the photo and provide a deeper meaning.

The inspiration for the poem most likely came from my love for hummingbirds and also from the cover of my favorite album "The Autumn Effect," which is the picture I describe in the poem. It seemed to be a very fitting topic for the poem since it was two of my favorite things, and I would be able to write about both at once. I stared at the cover long enough for the CD to loop back to the first track two times, when finally, a few lines came to my mind, and then, the whole poem soon spilled onto the page. Now, I proudly present it to the public.

In the quiet, dark, empty forest,

a lonely golden flower sits.

The fairy-like bird glides over,

and takes a sip from it.

The bright beacon and the buzzing sliver,

Alone in the woods, need only each other.

Disclaimer: This is a fictional work of poetry. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a poetic manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.