Beija-Flor  (Hummingbird)

When you kiss me, moths flutter in my mouth;
when you kiss me,  leaf-cutter ants lift up
their small burdens and carry them along
corridors of scent; when you kiss me,
caymans slither down wet banks in moonlight,
jaws yawning open, eyes bright red lasers;
when you kiss me,  my fist conceals
the bleached skull of a sloth; when you kiss me,
the waters wed in my ribs,  dark and pale
rivers exchange their potions-- she gives him
love's power,  he gives her love's lure; 
when you kiss me, my heart, surfacing, steals
a small breath like a pink river dolphin;
when you kiss me, the rain falls thick as rubber,
sunset pours molasses down my spine
and,  in my hips, the green wings of the jungle flutter;
when you kiss me, blooms explode like land mines
in trees loud with monkey muttering
and the kazoo-istry of birds; when you kiss me,
my flesh sambas like an iguana; when you kiss me,
the river-mirror reflects an unknown land,
eyes glitter in the foliage, ships pass
like traveling miracle plays, and coca sets
brush fires in my veins; when you kiss me,
the river tilts its wet thighs around a bend;
when you kiss me, my tongue unfolds its wings
and flies through shadows as a leaf-nosed bat,
a ventriloquist of the twilight shore
which hurls its voice against the tender world
and aches to hear its echo rushing back;
when you kiss me, anthuria send up
small telescopes,  the vine-clad trees wear
pantaloons, a reasonably evitable moon
rises among a signature of clouds,
the sky fills with the pandemonium
of swamp monkeys, the aerial slither
and looping confetti of butterflies;
when you kiss me,  time's caravan pauses
to sip from the rich tropic of the heart,
find shade in the oasis of a touch,
bathe in Nature carnal,  mute and radiant;
you find me there trembling and overawed;
for,  when you kiss me, I become the all
you love:  a peddler on your luminous river,  
whose salted-fish are words,  daughter
of a dolphin;  when you kiss me,  I smell
of night-blooming orchids;  when you kiss me,
my mouth softens into scarlet feathers-- 
an ibis with curved bill and small dark smile;
when you kiss me,  jaguars lope through my knees;
when you kiss me,  my lips quiver like bronze
violets;  oh, when you kiss me....

                                    Diane Ackerman, Jaguar of Sweet Laughter,
                                    Random House, 1991