I Wonder Sometimes Where the Bluebirds Have Gone

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.