Miner's Watch

They pay no mind to the chirping
   Its song signals hale and hearty
Their fear entombed a mile beneath
   heart's surface, livelihoods at stake

It is only when the silence
   settles like dust and permeates
that they pause mid-strike and surge
   up toward the sun and safety

We knew then how to recognize
   the sound of our mortality
We've forgotten to heed the signs
   indeed, have even ceased to listen

In the growing silence we grope
   the earth in darkness and cannot see
the thousand dead canaries
   beneath our feet

 
by Ingrid McCleary