At fourteen years old, he went down the mine
Like his Dad before him, it was his time
He was issued, with a hat and a lamp
Way below ground its hot and its damp
Drilling the coal face eight hours a day
Coming home black, with a pittance of pay
Muscles aching from squatting so low
Following the coal seam a mile below
A billy of tea, bread an some cheese
Coal dust in lungs it makes a man sneeze
Old miners cough blood, there lungs are shot
More tea here son, I'll empty the pot
I look at these men, a life underground
The drill and the shovels, are the only sound
I looked in there eyes, through a Davy lamps gleam
A cage dead canary has made a man scream
Coal gas has entered through a crack in the wall
All it needs is a spark, that's the end of us all
The shafts ventilated, there's no need to fear
We'll be o.k. when we get the all clear
These men are as hard, as the coal i belive
Coal wagons full! come on lads heave!
The pit ponies are blind but they know every stride
When a wagon breaks loose they've got nowhere to hide
A pit prop it breaks leaving trapped men below
Tons of rock fall, we've got to dig slow
We'll prop as we go, its our only way out
I think I'm done for i, heard a man shout
The workings came down, with a thunderous roar
I never saw that boy any more
That night in my bed when I hit the sack
That's when a miner's eyes cry black!
Bob Gibson
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/eyes-cry-black/
