Kentucky Coal Mining 1930
KENTUCKY COAL MINING 1930
Behind me men deepening my gashes
And a danger as always from gas flashes
Ahead of me more seams wait for my cuts
More years spent sick to the guts
Rock rock everywhere and all is black
Roof above me scraping my back
A pile of work for which there is little thanks
A mile of earth above held up by God and two planks
And if it moves we become fossils like the coal
For the mine boss’ll bury us body and soul
The darkness is not just here in the coal seams
But in how the coal miner’s life seems
The endless darkness and heat is like hell
Hopeless prisoners walled up in jail
To digging a grave myself I resign
This job is a merciless killer -- it’s mine
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Written by Sydney Peck
Entered in Debbie Guzzi's Contest Down in the Dark Dungeon
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