Canary
by Rae Spencer
- In adulthood, only male canaries sing
- Caged vocal gems, impermanent and soft
- Sensitive to the subtlety of mines
- The first sign, when canaries collapse
- Birds die faster than men, who escape
- Leaving bright chips of slag in the dark
- Carbon, conveniently underground
- Mute corpses still in their cages
- The earliest gauges, tiny detectors
- Experts in the uses of air
- Averting disaster, unwilling protectors
- For hard handed sons with heavy lungs
- Anxious of the braced-up tons
- Above the coal, miles and miles
- Of tunnel, echoing with canary song
