Bone Chilling

Winter sunlight on the fields A murder calls in flight through misty yields Banks of bracken smothered in shadow falls Thunder through the valley calls Stiffening muscles ache in winter chills Footsteps path over wandering hills Dark, crashing clouds seal the wild landscape view The cold is here, it's come for you! Hilltops darken as daylight fades Mist settles in the valley as darkness cascades The change of day into the night Bleak feelings loom dreading deeper under fading light A voice, a light in front, higher in the nothing view Horizontal rain now blurring my weakened sight The pull from sound and flicker of light The roars of winds consume the night I follow the light and muffled calls I see the village lights flickering in the distant homes I reach the gates of the village road The cold, the rain, the dark as taken hold I find the Inn of the Miners Arms I find comfort in a pint close to flaming warmth A local man asks me if I got caught in t' wild on t' hill after dark? I nod to him and tell him of the flickering calls He takes off his cap, leans in and I see pale fear in his eyes I ask what's wrong and to my surprise He whispers to me of what I saw: One hundred years ago tonight A miner died on t' hill in t' darkest night Coming home from t' pit in a sudden and viscous storm For him there was no one on t' hill who'd ever call