2 Poems for the NCMM Memorial

Lives Lived, Lives Lost

A wall of steel ageing with time

This sweeping arc stands sublime

Names of those who risks their necks

Etched forever onto coloured glass checks

Tokens of remembrance given with grace

A kaleidoscope of colour here in this place

Prisms in the sunshine shining so bright

Rainbows through the rain a wonderful sight

A lasting memorial to miners and mines

So much to read between all those lines

A seam forged with power; glass fused with care

Reflections and tributes for generations to share

Lives lived and lives lost though never in vain

Their memories live on and will always remain

© Marian Barker

In the Memorial Garden

Misty moments and misty eyes

Heads bowed beneath November skies

Family members young and old

Standing together in the cold

Mist wraps around just like a shawl

Gently enveloping us one and all

Names read out in reverence due

Music played softly through and through

The choir sang in harmony

Words befitting a eulogy

Silence fell; a wreath was laid

Some shed a tear; others prayed

Misty moments, misty eyes

Underneath November skies

© Marian Barker

Baware Miners Beware

Beware Miners Beware

There was coal in stockpiles, coal from abroad

And dark blue lines drawn across the coal road.

Convoys of grim buses in greens and greys,

Prowling the length of British motorways.

Beware, miners, beware.

The rule of law, but the law is partial,

The rule is fear when the law is martial.

What matter then the ballot or the vote?

It’s who wields the baton in the last resort.

Beware, miners, beware.

It wasn’t policing some might celebrate,

Policing by consent, consent of the state,

And how much money so readily found

To keep centuries of coal deep underground?

Beware, miners, beware.

The pit was never a romantic place,

In the dusty dark, hewing a coal face,

In the dusty dark with the troubling damps,

Keeping wary eyes for the blue-flamed lamps.

Beware, miners, beware.

 It wasn’t, though, for welfare the pit closure plan,

It wasn’t for workers the shut-downs began,

It wasn’t for climate change they stopped the coal;

But break the miners’ union, break them all!

Beware, miners, beware.

There’s not a cob cut underground anymore,

With collieries fading into folk lore,

A heritage experience, and yet,

Without reminders, people will forget.

Be aware, miners, be aware.

                                                                Dave Alton

Black Dust

‘Oh’ Lament it keeps on whispering

Through the tunnels down below

With each resounding blow

Children waking from sweet slumber

Bleary eyed they all must dread

Footsteps in the Black Dust, they will have to tread

Eyes like a Panda: Tarnished and broken; coming up to the shore

I bet your head is aching?

And your feet are really sore?

For Black is the colour of Ill Health

Black is the colour of the Coal in Dust

And Black remains the colour in which, our lungs are sure to bust

Black is the colour of the clothes they owned

Imagine all the fatalities underground?

Imagine all the Fear by which, those precious children must be bound?

“We are the young children at work, down the mines

Opening and shutting the trap doors

Who are we that we should speak? And who will fight our cause”?

‘Oh’ to play in daylight amongst others

And feel the Sun shining upon our face

We do but sit and wonder: where is the Love? And Where is Grace?

Historical moments generations will remember

For Black were the thoughts of the ‘Children’s Call’

And Black are the memories prevailing; as Coal was mined for all.

                                                                                                         Bernadette O' Horo 

Taking the Pits

When coal was king way back then

Work was hard, boys became men

Each generation followed line on line

Fathers and sons went down the mine

Blood was shed and lives were lost

Families would have to count the cost

Of putting food upon the table

Earning as much as they were able

Digging deep in the bowels of the earth

Each man proud of his own worth

Then after all the years they grafted

They were well and truly shafted

The pits were closed, the work was gone

The miners wondered what when wrong

Their world was turned upside down

Life was changed in their hometown

They'd taken the pits along with their pride

On that dark, dark day the community died

The brass band played its very best

And the colliery was finally laid to rest

With a requiem solemn as befits

The mournful day they took the pits

© Marian Barker

Thirty Shades of Black

Black the tunnels underground

Black the treasure that they found

Black is buried within the ground

Black drives industrial wheels around

Black gold is found at every turn

Black that makes the home fires burn

Black the coal dust in their hair

Black the clothing that they wear

Black faces leaving the pit head

Black water in the washing shed

Black the towels on the pegs

Black and blue those arms and legs

Black matter mined beneath the earth

Black diamonds now have lost their worth

Black the mood when word got out

Black news is what it was all about

Black the ink upon the page

Black the miners’ darkest rage

Black the look on every face

Black the shadows in this place

Black the cloud hung over all

Black depression began to fall

Black the list of mines to close

Black as night the miners’ woes

Black eyes shedding salty tears

Black future in their later years

Black the armbands that they wore

Black the words the miners swore

Black the colour of their spit

Black the day they closed their pit

© Marian Barker

Chain of Colliers

Spring

At long last…light,

Time of renewal, relief, hope,

Looking forward to colour.

Blue sky, grey sky, herringbone.

Warm rain, howling rain, relief.

Getting rid of grime.

Clearing burdensome clutter

Gives sense of freedom.

Looking forward to better times,

But backward to what is lost.

Time for action plan,

Memorable moments – bring ‘em on!

Learn, love, laugh, grow.

Summer

It’s here! We’ve waited so long

To cast off winter’s burden.

Smells of grass and food,

People mingling, laughing, free

Briefly from routine.

Winding down – put toothbrush in

Carrier with spare knickers.

It’s hard to imagine

The grime, the crowds, the noise,

Now the pits have gone.

Incarceration was cruel,

Ponies slaving underground.

Autumn

The colours are nice,

If only it didn’t get colder

And damp, grey and dark.

One over – I would have cried.

Year older – I’m older – Thanks!

Thoughts drift to summer,

To sunny days and light nights…

But winter comes next.

Now what will it be today?

Not bread and dripping again!

Nights are drawing in,

Time to start wearing me vest.

Thought summer wouldn’t end.

Winter

Quilt days, hoodie days, book days,

Thick socks, fleece throw, have go – right?

Scary the unknown,

How do we look forward in hope?

Present in turmoil.

Did Shakespeare write on mines?

A Winter’s Tale must come close.

Lighten the darkness,

Illuminating my world,

Lamp unto my feet.

Now the earth can be reclaimed,

Restored for a greener future.

Renga composed by Dave Alton

From verses written by Coalshed Poets:

Marian Barker

Claire Crossdale

Jean Hales

Darkness Unhurried

How darkness echoes having been buried,

Absence of hurriers, darkness unhurried,

While depths of earth being no longer measured

By stomach churned seconds, and the long leisured

No longer count their leisure. Deep, deep down

In an undrawn drawer, rolled in old brown

Paper, the silver-set pendant is not jet,

But polished Barnsley hard, shining as wet

Even after all these years. Grandad fashioned it

On days between pickets, so impassioned it

Is difficult to recall the pressing need,

Urgent need for precise faceting. Freed

From necessity for one idle day,

She’d stood by the kerbside on Pithill Way

Watching the Anthracite Sisters process,

Barefooted and in closed ranks, to confess

Their calling to redundancy, the shock

At their closing order, to the headstock,

Unwound winding gear bound with steel hawsers

For scrap. Since then, or so she supposes,

The nominal value in that shaped shard

Of silver-set and hand-worked Barnsley hard,

Should remain as an echo, left buried

In her drawer, in darkness unhurried.

                                                                Dave Alton