The Mountain Fell

I used to climb the mountain
until the mountain fell,
lived in the light until
they made me mine
the bowels of hell.

Caught between a rock
and a hard life I breathed
death to keep my family alive.

I dodged fate for a while
with each pickaxe swing,
but on a December Monday
coal sent a demand it
needed more bones.

I used to climb the mountain
until the mountain fell.
lived in the light until
they made me mine
the bowels of hell.

©Susie Clevenger 2014


Revisiting Marian's prompt  for Real Toads Play It Again #5

Comments

Fireblossom said…
I love coal sending a demand that it needs more bones. Good stuff, Susie.
May 26, 2014 at 7:40 AM
Kerry O'Connor said…
I definitely felt the influence of song in these lines, and I'm sure they could be set to music with perfect ease. I felt so strongly the sense of human endurance against great odds as I read the piece.
May 26, 2014 at 8:23 AM
Anonymous said…
Sad subject, beautiful writing.
I thank Laurie Kolp for the heads up on your blog. :-)
May 26, 2014 at 11:27 AM
Wolfsrosebud said…
those first four lines had so much power... glad you finished with them also
May 26, 2014 at 11:38 AM
Sherry Blue Sky said…
"I breathed death to keep my family alive." This poem really captures the coal mining disaster when "the mountain fell", but also could be applied to the many ways we mine the depths to keep our families going........good one, Susie!
May 26, 2014 at 11:48 AM
Grace said…
This is a poignant line and made me recall death of miners: Caught between a rock and a hard life I breathed death to keep my family alive.

Good one Susie ~
May 26, 2014 at 5:43 PM
Margaret said…
Fantastic! A man, doing the only thing he knows, doing what he must… a strength not everyone has.
May 28, 2014 at 10:45 PM
Post a Comment