Bluebird
There's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I'm too tough for him, I say, stay in there, I'm not going to let anybody see you. There's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I pour whiskey on him and inhale cigarette smoke and the whores and the bartenders and the grocery clerks never know that he's in there. There's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I'm too tough for him, I say, stay down, do you want to mess me up? You want to screw up the works? You want to blow my book sales in Europe? There's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I'm too clever, I only let him out at night sometimes when everybody's asleep. I say, I know that you're there, so don't be sad. Then I put him back, but he's singing a little in there, I haven't quite let him die and we sleep together like that with our secret pact and it's nice enough to make a man weep, but I don't weep... Do you?
Bluebird - meaning Summary
Hidden Self Beneath Toughness
The poem depicts a bluebird inside the speaker that stands for a vulnerable inner self, hidden behind a hard, self-reliant exterior. Bukowski traces the struggle to keep that inner voice inside, using whiskey, smoke, and a nightlife routine to dull the feeling and keep others from noticing. The bird only escapes at night, when everyone else is asleep, and the speaker and the bird continue a secret pact. The moment of connection is powerful enough to move him, yet he insists he does not weep. Do you?
I've got a bluebird in my heart, I feel it run through my body in the veins with the blood, that's as far as I let it go, it never sees the day light, the bluebird in my heart, it sings, and hums the most beautiful melodies, in pursuit of freedom, but I never let it out, too scared the world might just turn around and leave as it leaves it's 'cage' and into the world ... So, I try as much to suffocate the bluebird in my heart, but it's most of what I have and somehow, losing my bluebird kills the reason I have to stick around with the world. My bluebird ... it's a blessing and a curse.