The Canary and the Well
Mar 13, 2024
The Iron Pump Which
Quenched my Youthful Thirst
Now Stands Idle–
Rusting, Parched.
The Silent Spring Below
Hums a Lament:
It Sounds Like a Canary
Singing a Lullaby to the Human Race.
[Grace notes: The photo is from a water pump on the east side of Cedar Lake in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In my youth, there was a similar water pump by Lake Harriet in Minneapolis. The reference to the canary is a riff on the proverbial saying, “A canary in a coal mine.”]
