I wonder sometimes where the bluebirds have gone;
I used to see bluebirds all the time.
Maybe it’s something to do with their diet,
or their migration patterns
have changed for some reason
but I don’t see bluebirds the way that I did
and I wonder sometimes—
in this part of the state they are relative newcomers,
due, I am told, to an ongoing turf war
with sparrows and starlings.
As I understand it, they’re cavity-nesters—
bluebirds nest in tree holes, I hear,
as do the starlings and sparrows who steal
or fight to the death
for those nests
and I wonder sometimes where the bluebirds have gone;
I don’t see them now the way that I did
and me, I’m a city girl,
I’ve only been here a few years myself,
but ongoing turf war, murder and theft—
it sounds very much like the place that I left
and I don’t wonder why
the bluebirds have gone.