The Canary

when had

I thought it was me signaling to people

within the mines—our home when the deafening

silence just took over; I didn't notice my voice go quiet.

people never came by anymore. They never came by to

help a family. They noticed the canary's warning

but I wasn't the first canary to collapse.

mom spoke of once singing in a choir

shared stories of hitting the highest notes

talked about singing, but never once sang out

how odd that it took me so long to understand that

the canary was too late to notice the carbon monoxide—

that anger suffocating the home. An overlooked silence

because mom stopped singing before her baby arrived