the hummingbird's lesson

Love cannot be hunted.
          In unlikely moments it descends upon us
               with all the grace of a rainshower
                    on the most unbearable July day,
     enveloping our bodies and
     exhorting our spirits to dance.

Neither can it be captured
                       or kept for oneself.
          As it is with the hummingbird,
               sipping from these purple trumpets,
               so it is also with love:
                                 captivity defies its very essence.

It must be unbound
     and shared freely --
Only then can this private gift
          expand exponentially to permeate
                       heretofore unseen and unknown realms.

          Only then can love fulfill its one true purpose:
     to awaken the soul of the world.