Mid-winter Blues

Mountain bluebirds congregate in the Red Hills every winter.  This year's population has been spectacular!

Winter often brings the blues

in different forms and different hues;

some lament the season's cold

others rejoice as it unfolds.

Thrushes from the frozen north

seek refuge in Red Hills resorts

of rolling grassy red terrain

on cedar berries they are maintained.

Red cedars pose a serious threat 

puts the ranching culture to the test,

and pretty birds that bless our eyes

also cause the prairie's demise.

So with some ambiguity

I praise these azure birds I see;

I only wish they'd take the seeds

far far away this wish I plead.