Kerry Bernatchez Poet Ballad

Coalmine Canary

I am the cursed canary in the coal mine,
A yellow singular speck in a mental metal cage,
Waiting for the vapour to fill my lungs
And silence my siren song.

Canary cries in the coal mine deep,
Sings through smoke, too cursed to sleep.
Wings clipped, breath stolen, fate rewinds—
Still I sing, still I shine.
Still I sing, still I shine.

I am Andromeda chained to a rough rock,
A sacrifice for social monsters and their feasts.
My wispy wings cruelly clipped for daringly defying fate,
And dreaming of elusive escape.

Canary cries in the coal mine deep,
Sings through smoke, too cursed to sleep.
Wings clipped, breath stolen, fate rewinds—
Still I sing, still I shine.
Still I sing, still I shine.

Will there be a miner, a mental scourer,
Underground worker,
Who will trade his income for my life?
Will he give up what fuels him,
Or keep digging his own gruesome grave?

I am the bedrock bird—
Harshness is my only abode.
I choose to roam, never perching,
Always lurching, lumbering toward the bitter ending.

I inevitably inhale, ingesting what could be poison,
What could be normal air.
Each breath a mock, a ridicule against the gods.
Will I ever see beyond the cage,
The rage on the page?

Canary cries in the coal mine deep,
Sings through smoke, too cursed to sleep.
Wings clipped, breath stolen, fate rewinds—
Still I sing, still I shine.
Still I sing… still I shine.

♡Like0

Share Poem

---

Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Justin Bordner December 3, 2025 at 11:56 AM A feather frozen into the ice of a black fate, a song unsurrendered to Society's psychotic sadness, stifled beauty sacrificed for dull madness, a life too true for Death's threat...Your poem is powerful, your style impeccable Poetess...J.A.B.