Hummingbird Unmasked
My beak’s a single fang I sink in artery or vein
And none suspect me of this drink but clinically insane
And paranoid-type fantasists whom no one else believes
When they accuse the pretty bird that flits in flowers and leaves.
Though tiny as a bumblebee, I may grow round and bloated;
The nectar of your heart is how I keep my Ruby-Throated
Good looks and family heritage (and, not the least, my name),
My shapely belly and my speed of flying fast as flame.
It’s not that I’m nefarious, invidious or rude,
But merely that I have a taste for human blood as food,
And do not fear: I’d never kill you outright when I dine—
Far rather sip and savor you as vintage claret wine.
Art-Colored Glasses 
Delicious, Kathryn. 🙂
🙂
I have to ask again – how did you do that?
Take one photo of a hummingbird. Import to Photoshop. Crop to size, monkey around with contrasts, colors, textures, paint effects, inversions, erasures and so forth until hummingbird looks sufficiently bloodthirsty to you. Save, choose another bird, repeat. That was about it, though I was going to claim I had trained a pair of hummingbirds in venipuncture and then photographed them in my aviary. But that might have been just the teensiest bit less plausible. 😉 Did you notice the kind of gingery tint of their feathers??
I did – It looks ace!
So good! So good! Miss Kathryn, you never cease to amaze and inspire! I quite like the ruby-ed look!
Thank you, my darling. It’s fun to play at being Mother Nature, even if it’s in unnatural ways! 😉