Iron Ore Miner (1859) -V2
Posted: 08 Jul 2019, 01:32
Iron Ore Miner (1859)
Before Pen y Garn, at Trallwn
we slept in barns and watched our
children grow large eyes.
We gleaned oats spilled by the ponies,
and scavenged from the turnip
slicer set for winter fodder
At Dowlais we walked miles
after five underground, time to dwell
on home and hearth.
The red glow from our fires,
the waft of home cooked cawl,
deep seated in our hearts.
Lean from the chill of the mountain
air, lean from the weariness of ever
present death: a roof fall,
a pony’s stubborn kick,
a careless strike
from a fellow’s axe
Sundays we wake to sunlight
playing on our iron set faces
Rachel cried when Evan went down
to keep the iron doors. Ada will watch
over him, only five and afraid of the dark.
All my boys working, earning their shilling
Strange to see the women:
shimmering sweat
streaked shapes, sirens
flickering in candlelight.
John, my eldest, studies every night,
mathematics, and engines, he'll make
engineer one day and me barely
able to write my name. He learned
the new language and to write
in the old at Sunday school.
I beat that fireman bad. He spoke
sharply to me as I struck the rock,
and me that has seen a flurry of winters
in these hills and felt the bitter
wind whistle through my bones.
Me that ran in Rebecca robes
during the riots and burned
the tolls in '31.
Poor Dic, hanged
for our transgressions,
buried at Aberafan.
We missed transportation,
we changed our names.
Better liars than Australia.
Parch says to leave our families without
support would make us worse than infidels.
The fireman's life hangs by a thread,
if he dies I will follow soon enough.
I cough the rock dust from my lungs,
mixed with red speckled phlegm.
The mine brings us down slowly,
kills us gently, I won't see sixty.
Rachel knows, she puts her gold coins
by. Dai knows I can't keep up
with the younger men.
A lass helped me move a tub today,
lovely with her shining hair by my cap
light. Her breasts heaving with exertion
as she strove to help, her garment
parted to reveal her beauty,
and I was glad .
Before Pen y Garn, at Trallwn
we slept in barns and watched our
children grow large eyes.
We gleaned oats spilled by the ponies,
and scavenged from the turnip
slicer set for winter fodder
At Dowlais we walked miles
after five underground, time to dwell
on home and hearth.
The red glow from our fires,
the waft of home cooked cawl,
deep seated in our hearts.
Lean from the chill of the mountain
air, lean from the weariness of ever
present death: a roof fall,
a pony’s stubborn kick,
a careless strike
from a fellow’s axe
Sundays we wake to sunlight
playing on our iron set faces
Rachel cried when Evan went down
to keep the iron doors. Ada will watch
over him, only five and afraid of the dark.
All my boys working, earning their shilling
Strange to see the women:
shimmering sweat
streaked shapes, sirens
flickering in candlelight.
John, my eldest, studies every night,
mathematics, and engines, he'll make
engineer one day and me barely
able to write my name. He learned
the new language and to write
in the old at Sunday school.
I beat that fireman bad. He spoke
sharply to me as I struck the rock,
and me that has seen a flurry of winters
in these hills and felt the bitter
wind whistle through my bones.
Me that ran in Rebecca robes
during the riots and burned
the tolls in '31.
Poor Dic, hanged
for our transgressions,
buried at Aberafan.
We missed transportation,
we changed our names.
Better liars than Australia.
Parch says to leave our families without
support would make us worse than infidels.
The fireman's life hangs by a thread,
if he dies I will follow soon enough.
I cough the rock dust from my lungs,
mixed with red speckled phlegm.
The mine brings us down slowly,
kills us gently, I won't see sixty.
Rachel knows, she puts her gold coins
by. Dai knows I can't keep up
with the younger men.
A lass helped me move a tub today,
lovely with her shining hair by my cap
light. Her breasts heaving with exertion
as she strove to help, her garment
parted to reveal her beauty,
and I was glad .