Goldfinch for Zeph at http://pseudstuff.blogspot.com/
and for Geoff DeMain painter extraordinaire:

the miners finch
wild canary
never a single flinch
nor note of song

believes in destiny as much
as those whose dynamite replaces
hammer and tap and stretches against the natural grain

for one more chance to signify
all clear
at the beginning and end of the mortal chain,
or waiting forever against the supervisor's wall,

or in an abandoned lunchroom
midst the gritty wrappers of last week's fare
for one more chance at least
to prove
the worth of her captivity