The speaker is sitting inside while the outdoors is busy with life: sparrows, kinglets, jays, and oak leaves tumbling through the air. The repeated "while" makes the list feel unfinished, as if the outside world keeps going on without him. Indoors, there is only silence, and the poem describes it in a striking way: it is "well past the age / when it could ever get pregnant." That suggests a silence that is old and barren, one that won't lead to anything new, no ideas or answers.
The mouse nests burned in the furnace add a small, quiet note of loss, since something's home becomes heat for the house. Then the silence "sounded / very much like static," a restless, empty hum rather than real peace. The poem ends by naming birds, "white-throated / ruby-crowned / blue," as though the speaker's attention has slipped back outside, trying to tune in. The mood is lonely, still, and a little uneasy, with a faint longing for connection.