” THE COAL DARK MINER “~by Martin Gedge

 

 

POEM ” THE COAL DARK MINER ” by martin gedge

How long can you hold your breath?

in the dark unknowing death

as the bitter cold of lightness disappears

and the fumes around you smell

in this deep and burrowed well

as its playing on your nervous sense of fears

and below this buried rock

as your mind goes into shock

you hold the very hope inside your palm

for at last you flick a light

with a blast of dynamite

and your world begins to feel like Vietnam

for digging in this cave

where your bound to call your grave

a thousand men have surely come and gone

and the price they dearly pay

for the hole they face each day

a love at home to pray they reach the dawn

and with the wits of tool and craft

in the belly of this shaft

the choke of sudden draft is thin and bare

for the tightness in your brain

keeps on rushing like a train

to drain of every ounce to fill the air …

by martin gedge ©