This painting is a little bit out of left field for my ekphrastic series, as it doesn’t really depict food, or eating.
However, hummingbirds do like to sup on red passionflowers. And red passionflowers do bear a fruit, with apparently a grape-like bland taste, which can be eaten.
Depicted here is the passionflower (Paciflora racemosa) and the black-eared fairy Heliothryx aurita, which Martin Johnson Heade painted after a trip to South America.
More on the catena rondo here.
Entwined
Imbued with sweetness – red
passionflower. The hummingbird
rests, and listens. Humming overheard,
imbued with sweetness. Red
passionflower. The hummingbird,
by shimmers of purple and green,
deflects from the beauty of jewelled seeds’
passionflower. The hummingbird,
by shimmers of purple and green,
fans the passionflower’s red feather
dress, a corona caress, outdone however –
by shimmers of purple and green
fans. The passionflower’s red feather
petals welcome her tiny visitor – humming,
collecting nectar, insects – succumbing
fans. The passionflower’s red feather,
imbued with sweetness – red
passionflower. The hummingbird
rests, and listens. Humming overheard.
Imbued with sweetness. Red.
©elsp 2025
You may also watch my YouTube version by clicking the link below.
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