A hummingbird mistakes, or perhaps investigates, a metal lawn flamingo in the speaker's garden. The bird circles it, touches it, and then lands on its single rusty leg to tap the pink wing. The speaker watches closely and wonders what the bird is thinking, offering a quick run of guesses: amazed, perplexed, combative, appalled. The questions are playful, and they show the speaker projecting human reactions onto a tiny animal.
The title, "Critic," turns the hummingbird into an art reviewer examining a sculpture, testing it with its bill like a judge weighing a work. The phrase "diviner's wand" adds a touch of magic, as if the bird might be searching for something hidden inside the fake flower-colored bird.
The mood is quiet, amused, and attentive. Evening settles in, the katydids begin, and a silly garden ornament becomes the centre of a small, serious encounter between real life and imitation.