If Only We Had Listened

A lament on the decline of the Common Starling. The full poem will feature in the forthcoming book Songs of Field and Garden. The image is a detail from the full image by Adele Croxall-Ellis which will appear alongside the poem in the book.

If Only We Had Listened (First and last verses)

I heard you in the morning in the roof above my bed,
I heard you chatter, prattle on—not knowing what was said,
All day you sing your heart’s desire, your courtship message sent,
They call you dull, a pest, unloved, but you and I dissent.

…

But now we’ve sealed the cracks you used to bring your young to fledge,
We’ve kept you from our towns at night with spikes on every ledge,
We’ve cleansed our fields of food you eat, with a poison holocaust,
If only we had listened as your murmured dance was lost.

Starling numbers in the UK have declined by 80% in the last 50 years. Murmurations are fewer and smaller than ever.

Published 10th April 2026 by Steve Allanson