Half Cassandra; half 

some bird from shale-rich 
northern clime, pressed 
into service as canary-in-coal- 
mine 
 
was never a choice. I,
fossil without feathers, body ever 
misunderstood. Singer of songs  
long-passed from tongues, from 
ears, from air itself 
 
grown too thick to breathe. Me, 
selected somehow to be 
fragile sacrifice. Gaslit and 
gassed; chest filled and spilling,
unwilling warning, pretty trill 
 
is keening scream unrecognized. I 
did not choose this life. Lament:   
last ragged sigh. Leave me here;   
in slate and bluestone ache 
to cry.