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Mining Poetry by Joel Tankersley
Down in the darkness
Down in the darkness,
the cage did descend,
Mother earth's heart,
riches to lend.
Coal and lead and silver,
riches in store,
below the earth crust,
a vast golden floor.
Wrestled with grit,
and tore out with sweat,
names upon names,
that all soon forget.
Those come before us,
all massed in a mob,
taught us to stope,
and taught us to gob.
They taught us to drill,
and learned powder to pack.
Set jack, stull, squareset,
give a wedge a good smack.
Decline and incline,
track drift, raise,
pie cans in hand on graveyard,
swingshift and days
Nothings too good,
nay, nay, never your tongue.
For a young man who goes in,
is never more young.
Copyright Joel Tankersley
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