I Can't Breathe

A man sits as many risks as he runs. - Thoreau

i wondered if they still used canaries in coal mines

when things get to be too much and cross toxic lines

turns out they have other warnings and signs

all kinds

co2 detectors

asphyxiation deflectors

digging directors

metalifforous extraction inspectors

anthracitic, life protectors

in the tunneled confines

standing guard like tall pines

not to mention steep fines

and they say that, "the sun also shines"

Author's Note

"My instinct tells me that my head is an organ for burrowing, as some creatures use their snout and fore-paws, and with it I would mine and burrow my way through these hills. I think that the richest vein is somewhere hereabouts; so by the divining rod and thin rising vapors I judge; and here I will begin to mine." - Thoreau