amor y las chuparosas (love and hummingbird charms)
by Jordan Trethewey
Divine hummingbird enrich my life and love,
so that my lover will want only me.
-anonymous prayer
la vendadora
(the seller)
Adorned in death, with respect
not afforded it in life,
the hummingbird, petrified by peroxide,
is reverently lowered
onto a photograph of intended lovers-
their names thrice-inscribed on the reverse.
La bruja de border botanica
rolls the miniature mystic messenger,
first into a surreal Cuban cigarillo,
then into companionable underwear-
his and hers.
She places it inside a small, red satin bag,
coats it in pure, golden honey, and
oily promises of restlessness, attraction,
and thought-control via carnal incantations.
Rose petals seal the spell.
el amante
(the lover)
She draws tasselled drawstrings tight
after he lays sweaty, seasonally-earned
cash on the counter.
His princesa de barrio doesn't know it
yet,
but he will possess her heart
with this tricked-out, $30 la chuparosa-
the strength of this heavenly Hermes entombed
in amber, activated with provided prayer
whispered atop his candle-coated shrine.
el colibrí
(the hummingbird)
The iridescent metabolic marvel
never stops
eating and moving
unless caught in mist mesh
strung in trees,
or stuck on glue trap feeders,
like common houseflies,
or hit with 1.5 mm lead shot.
Circumstances in which it has failed
to adequately co-adapt-
like needle beak, and fluted flower-
to the constantly mutating
human desire for amor.
la official de vido silvestre
(the wildlife officer)
He follows the slight breeze
in the wake of this crime of passion;
these ephemeral criminals
committing an unheard-of crime
in the name of love.
Blasphemous Beatles once sang,
you can't buy me love,
but on the border, swindlers
well-versed in anachronistic mysticism,
posing as witches and holy men,
proffer pint-sized pollinators
at a premium.
Profit is clearly el motivo,
deduced through due diligence
of peeling price tags proclaiming-
Hecho en México- from commercial quantities
of miniscule, feathered mummies.
Risk of federal time, or decades in a Mexican hole,
trivial compared to the ire of an underworld employer
if you renege after drawing the short, sword bill beak.
He wonders if he might be taken seriously
if his endangered species file
engendered concern given African rhinos,
bald eagles, and stars of animated films.
Photo of Jordan Trethewey
BIO: Jordan Trethewey lives in Fredericton, NB, Canada, with his wife, son, and daughter. He is the writer-in-residence at the Fredericton Region Museum, and a past City of Fredericton Poet Laureate (2021-2024).
Jordan’s writing appears in many journals, such as Maclean’s, Arc Poetry Magazine, and Spillwords; on the right shoulder blade of a fan, and was included in a failed mission to rest in a time capsule on the moon. He is a member of the League of Canadian Poets, and an editor at Open Arts Forum. Some of his work is also translated in Vietnamese, Farsi, and French.
Jordan’s latest book, “These Are the People in Your Neighbourhood” (2023), is the fulfillment of his legacy project as poet laureate. His books “Spirits for Sale” (2019), and “Unexpected Mergers” (2021) are collaborations with Dutch artist Marcel Herms. His poetry collections, “Peculiar Portraits,” and “SyncWord,” are forthcoming from Anxiety Press, and Gridlock Lit, respectively.