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ANOTHER DAY IN THE MINE
by
JOHN M. ARRIBAS
	


I woke up this morning with a pain in my back
From a cold wind blowing in through a crack
I sleep with my little brother and he hogs the blankets
What to do in winter when the temperature plummets

We all live in this house my mother, father and two brothers
My two sisters and two dogs sometimes there are others
Time to get moving it’s a working day in the mine
I’ll have  bread and coffee it’ll do til lunch time

My mother packs a lunch for my father and me to split
We leave together its about a mile walk to the adit
Down the crowded elevator to the launching level
I pick up my headlight two picks and a shovel

The next ten hours will be topping off trams
Except for lunch eaten with unwashed hands
I heard the siren thank god, its time to quit
I need to clean up and get rid of dust and grit

Today is payday time for a Friday night bash
I’ll wash at the heath club a shower is 20 pesos, cash
Stop by my house give my mother my weeks rent
The rest for wine and women  always totally spent

Off to Paco’s Cantina with a whorehouse upstairs
Everyone goes there, my father, my uncle  no one cares
I’ll have a few drinks dance then pick out a whore
Take her upstairs pay the madam at the door

I’ll spend an hour or so with a woman named Vicki
Too much to drink making love was really tricky
Back at the bar I caught up with my father
He gave me money to take home to my mother

Some of the miners were getting out of control
A  miner claimed a whore had stolen his roll
I had seen this act several times before
I finished my drink went straight out the door




Another day in the mine(2)



When I got home put my father’s money on the table
My mother god bless her, asleep looked like an angel
I pushed my brother aside and climbed aboard
My father came home drunk and loud in total discord

When he drinks he is vulgar, nasty and mean
Drunken and rowdy he is viciously obscene
He wakes my mother says he’s hungry wants food
You better get moving I’m not in a good mood

He’s awakened every one asleep in the house
Everyone stays as quiet in fear of the souse
No one wants to affront him and hear him roar
My mother is crying he’s passed out on the floor

When I awoke I had the same pain in my back
A  cold wind was blowing in through a crack
I looked at my brother much younger than me
The life of my father is that who I’m going to be

My granny told stories about her father’s drinking
That’s a least six generations with no one thinking
I suddenly became panicky and realized
When I looked at my father, he was me in disguise

I need to escape from this worthless tradition
It  leads to a continuing of a losing repetition
That vow was made over thirty years ago
I made good on my pledge I had the nerve to go

We have a family business in the city now
My brothers and sisters are all part of the show
Its not been easy but we are happy and free
From a culture of self inflicted drudgery
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