A Proof of Colliers
Spring
Bare branches
splutter
Bright on
our wintery eyes
Lighting the
pit head
Down in the waterlogged
earth
A summer
bounty will follow
Fresh rainfall
sweeping
Rinse bright
new leaves and blossom
Under a pale
sun
Birds recover
forgotten songs
Establishing
we’re free
Free of the
shackles
Joy, warmth,
gentleness, caring, love
What’s it
all about?
Summer
Summer spreads
its buttery light
Trickles like
a beads of sweat
Bunting bright
festoons
Bunting yellow,
green and red
Pastry with
hard egg
Round and
round it goes whirring
Natures God
given labyrinth
The coal
hard and black
Dark underground
are the miners
Passing into
cage
Trot, trot,
trot, trot, trot, trot, trot
Creatures of
the darkling earth
Autumn
Russet, gold
and red
In the store
house of coal soil
Conkers fall
on me
The roof
leaks, damn it, damn it
Bites deeply
into my soul
The leaves drift
and sway
I sit on
this cold wet bench
Caught in
the wind
Twigs snap,
earth hard beneath boots
Crackle underfoot
on muddy paths
The moon,
pale and white
Rain soaked earth
beneath cold hooves
Ancient
creaking limbs
Winter
The curtains
drawn at four
The earth
begins its waiting
Shut the
door he said
The end of
time shuts down time
Bruise eternity
This is the
winter of discontent
Robbed of
all summer’s bounty
Lights glimmer
through panes
Under an
indigo sky
My lamp is
my guide
Shedding the
old worn out skins
New years on
the horizon
Contributors
Cate
Anderson Howard Benn
Bill
Fitzsimons Malcolm Henshall
Barbara
Lawton Drusilla Long
Myrna Moore Terry Wassall
Composer
Eileen Neil
(Palmer)
Renga Guide
Dave Alton