Notes About The Poem
If you grew up in a mining town like Tamaqua, Pa., you'd understand the pride one felt in a blue collar town of hard working, family oriented people. If there was an accident, the neighbors converged on the home with food and moral support for the family. If there was a parade, almost the entire town turned out to watch. The shop owners were also family and friends. You were never a number in a bank or department store. Yes, there was a Utopia. At the time we didn't know it.
Dirt and Pride
I watched them go to work each morning
A kid growing up in the coal regions
Remembering the dirt and the pride
The self respect that came from earning
The self reliance and the sense of community
I never knew the need to knock on a door
My dad’s keys were in the ignition of the old Ford
Kids playing baseball with taped up baseballs
Carpenter’s nail holding the bat together
And eight gloves between seventeen kids
Catcher didn’t need one
Wednesday afternoons the miners filled the bars
Sunday mornings they filled the churches
I watched them coming home each late afternoon
A kid growing up in the coal regions
Remembering the dirt and the pride
Blackened faces smiling
Another rugged hard day in, walking proud
Wrestle with the kids, family time
The important things
I watched them converging on a home
A kid growing up in the coal regions
Remembering the dirt and the pride
Mining accident, covered dishes, neighbors
One town, one neighborhood, one family
A feeling of belonging, community, our town
Clothes lines, party lines, coal mines
The dirt and the pride. TAMAQUA.
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