A mine disaster where a note was scribbled to his family some months ago. This is dedecated to all those going down into the bowels of the earth for black gold.
Goodbye to those I love
No jobs anywhere could be had
and Christmas around the corner
his two children's face's were so sad
then an add in the local news caught his eye
Jobs: 20 positions open today just apply
for those with experience top pay
coalminers needed to bring up black gold
anyone hired over 20 years old
work two shifts and get triple pay
jobs to last until Christmas day
it sounded too good to pass it by
so he kissed his wife as she gave a shy
along with some friends
and some he didn't know
that descended down into that long black hole
things went well for a couple days
each time he left his wife would pray
then the awful fear that brought many a tear
trapped in the ground surrounded by gas
they lay huddled together for air they would gasp
they waited long for help to come
he thought of his children with faces so sad
what would they do now without any dad
the thought of their Christmas
it was the least of his worry
the rescue team would now have to hurry
the air around them had now gotten so thin
the light in his lantern was growing so dim
he searched for some paper and for something to write
with a small chunk of coal in his dim lantern light
he wrote to his children and a note to his wife
I want you to know that I love you that's why I'm here
going into the ground was always my big fear
that was all there was his mark went off the page
he would never finish what he had to say
he went off to sleep with the note where he lay
but scratched on the wall just above
a simple note goodbye to those I love
John, your poem, "Goodbye to those I Love" sent goosebumps along my spine. Your mastery of visual scenes in word-painting put me right there in that cold dark cave, gasping for air as it thinned.
I recall the last time I saw a newscast of a coal mine collapsing and the struggle to bring the men out. Even now tears fill my eyes with remembering.
You've certainly captured the moment of what a man must have felt as he embraced death just before his last few breaths. A wonderfully written poem.
I can so relate to this poem. I am the daughter of a coal miner and I use to fear everyday for my Dad's life and if he was late coming home late evening, I would shutter in fear. He worked under ground for thirty-plus years and once said, "When I die and I'm buried, I'll feel at home." I love poetry that relates to life and this one sure does.
“The woman or man who is a poet, or fiction writer, or playwright, or all of these, is engaged constantly in a jazz ballet of vocabularies, passions, genders, histories, perspectives, death, love, and life. The music of revelation announces itself to
Mary Angela Nangini's poems celebrate the richness of life and love. From the city to cottage-country and the roads in between, Nangini explores the changing seasons of her varied region. (This book will soon be reprinted in hard cover.)
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I recall the last time I saw a newscast of a coal mine collapsing and the struggle to bring the men out. Even now tears fill my eyes with remembering.
You've certainly captured the moment of what a man must have felt as he embraced death just before his last few breaths. A wonderfully written poem.
Jeanette Cooper
very well
brought home....
What a dedicated man he was indeed.
Thank you for sharing this poem,
Fantastic~From the Heart of an Artist Quiet Storm