Identity

Throughout the entirety of the poem, Bukowski revisits the theme of identity, a mainstay across his poetry catalog. The speaker questions what it means to essentially have two sides of himself and a hidden bluebird in his heart. The bluebird is both a separate entity from the self and a manifestation of the self, sometimes at peace with each other but more often in opposition during the waking hours when Bukowski must hide him away.

The side of Bukowski that identifies with the bluebird longs for the comfort of being seen and acknowledged by the rest of the world, but his desire to be tough keeps him in the pattern of hiding himself away. He reiterates that he is “too tough for him” at the start of both stanzas, and he has no problem identifying the bluebird as an essential part of him where he lives...