bluebirds

following the path
a path
the same path in circles
over and over
blue flashes 
in my peripheral vision

what was that song about
bluebirds in the spring?

another day, another lap
I see the bluebird land on
then descend into a cavity
about eight feet up the trunk of a
lacebark elm

  Do bluebirds nest in cavities? 

the oracle says yes

new day
same path
bird plucks worm
from the grass
flies to the lip of
the cavity and
disappears 

i follow, 
stand at the base of the tree,
hearing the squiggly chatter 
of babies feeding 

even on tiptoe, i
cannot see inside the nest
i must imagine the blind and scrawny newborns,
growing larger as each day passes

each day 
stop and listen
keep on the path 

ritual forged in chaos 

and then silence 
one day
another day
like all the rest 
except for the silence 

once there was a robin’s nest 
outside the bedroom window
the fuzzy chicks 
eaten by the neighbors’ cat

come back to the present
the sunny silent park

  western bluebirds fledge how many days

the oracle says average nineteen days

it has been
that many loops
around this path 
unfathomable 
but nowhere as absurd
as the final tally

this sobering realization 
at least permits me to believe
that the tiny songbirds
have flown off

i am at peace with this thought
and yet
months later 
same park
same path 
i will miss them still