Canary in a coal mine
Never            
learned to speak
Never            
learned to fly
Gilded plumage tarnished by the soot of your surroundings
Don’t breathe they said, less dust settle in the trachea
Cadenza cut by choking
Treble tinged with poisoned honey
Don’t fly, they pleaded, lest you plummet into the abyss
Don’t play rough, lest the coals deface each fractal
Crystalline
Commodity
Taxidermy tucked away under plexiglass
Away from light
Away from green
Wings clipped for buyer’s viewing
So you    
learned to croak
A battle cry
Learned to crawl
You drank the moonlight with saucer eyes
Learned to dream
Dust to ashes ashes to dust
Mottled feathers bloom into red and gold
Phoenix rising
Canary in a coal mine learned to be infinity