The Pit Widow

A mighty blast hit each household
a tragedy yet to unfold.
Men near the scene,their bodies smashed,
many more die, the result of gas.

Those down the mine,caught on the fringe,
battered and bruised, slightly unhinged,
through shattered workings, racing time,
drag out mates through fire and grime.

Dreadful the sound, chilling my soul,
summoning bells,frantically toll.
Rigid with terror,stiff with fear,
my heart denies what I can hear.

grabbing m' shawl, lifting the bairn,
running t'pit filled with concern.
Through dumbstruck crowds,pushes young Jack,
shout's "where's me da'?" I can't answer back.

Moonshine lends a mystical air,
pit head scaffolding, stark and bare.
Small knots of people watch and wait,
praying for news of loved ones fate.

Telephones ring, office lights glare,
workmen hurrying here and there.
Policemen gather about the yard
to maintain order,"That isn't hard"

Anxious folk wait through the night
porcelain statues,stark and white.
Suddenly, stirrings, halting my breath,
I squeeze Jacks hand, as cold as death.

Clanging chains, the first out arrive,
broken men, more dead than alive.
The cage emits its precious cargo,
"please dear Lord, let it be my Joe"

Rushing forward, I hear Jack cry
"Da, da!" he screamed, "please don't die"
Women who find, husband or boy,
Fling their arms round them, weep with joy.

With the arrival of the dawn,
hundreds still wait, tired and drawn.
Mangled bodies begin to emerge,
women and children grimly surge.

Harrowing screams piercing the day,
broken widows are led away,
back to houses, cold and forlorn,
lifeless now that the breadwinners gone.

Jack having manfully withheld tears,
breaks down sobbing, hands over ears,
Pulling him close, hugging the lad
"it'll be okay, don't be sad"

"Your Da's big and strong,just like you,
you can be sure he will pull through"
Words of comfort, I can't believe
for myself I can't decieve.

Night and day, digging for the doomed
men and boys , who are still entombed,
bares no life from that ghastly hole,
human sacrifice, just for coal.

They placed the blame on a Cardox shell,
as couldn't brek coal, so they tell.
Shot back in flames, ignitin' t'gas,
an' that wer it that caused the blast.

As days wear on, all my hopes fade,
the price of coal is cruelly paid.
Me, Jack and the bairn, wait in vain,
down a t'pit head, through wind and rain.

Sometimes I hear terrified screams,
deep underground, from the coal seams.
Yer not coming back, this I know,
I love yer, lost yer, miss yer Joe.