Lifted

Yesterday evening I had the privilege once again of reading one of my poems at the commemoration event at the National Coal Mining Museum for England. The one I chose was "Walking Home" about the 1938 Disaster at Markham. This one was inspired by those events, by memories of my family and by my visits to the memorial at the NCMM. We were discussing last night that many poems about the industry dwell on the difficulty and danger that was involved - I hope this one carries a more positive message.

Lifted

They carry me easily
those blue-scarred men
From decades in the burrowed earth
lifting the black rock

They lift me up
Through exams they never sat
they carry me
Through the halls of academe
in which they never walked
they carry me
In journeys to the ends of the earth
they never took
they carry me.

From out of the darkness
they lift me into the sunlight
while they must stay
under the ground
until the day that I join them
I am lifted.

Tim Fellows 2018