by Julia Griffin

“Birdsong boosts mental wellbeing for 90% of people, UK poll finds”
—The Guardian

That 10%—a mighty throng,
In fact some seven million strong—
Receives no kind of mental boost
Or happiness when introduced
To liquid sounds of blackbird song

Appalls me. Do they want a gong?
Tones sweeter than a scuppernong
Have not, apparently, seduced
That 10%.

To what strange cult do these belong?
What ups their mental state —mah jongg?
An hour with Wittgenstein or Proust?
Would Super-Wordle get them juiced?
Or might this poll malign and wrong
That 10%?