"Beneath the Shadow of the Freeway" is a poem by Lorna Dee Cervantes. Cervantes was born in San Francisco with Mexican and Native American ancestry. Much of her writing deals with themes of identity, especially as she considers what it means to be Chicano.
In this poem, she talks about her mother and grandmother, and the different advice they gave her. Birds are often a symbol of freedom. In her poem, I believe that they they can symbolize beauty, hope, and/or renewal.
The first reference to birds comes in the third section with the mention of seagulls. Before this, at the end of the second section she says:
Myself: I could never decide.
She then describes the seagulls as having "indecisive beaks." Based on these lines, it might indicate that the speaker sees herself in the seagulls, and possibly connects the flocks of birds to the "flock" of the women in her family.
The male mockingbirds in the third section are a way for the speaker's grandmother to talk about the missing men in her life without having to focus on the negative: the beautiful image of mockingbirds "singing" for their wives is used in contrast to mention of the drunken man who left.
The image of mockingbirds returns again at the end of the fifth section, and again it feels like an attempt to find beauty despite the pain.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/lorna-dee-cervantes
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