SKETCHES FROM APPALACHIA
(a tanka series)
Originally published in Coal: A Poetry Anthology, Edited by Chris Green
after a miner
"shoots the coal"
the fog of dust
to breathe in
breathe out
setting
the jack
a roof bolter
with "safety first"
taped to his helmet
by drills and cuts
the continuous miner
shrinks the space
between worker
and machine
battery pack belts
never returned
a check at the lamp house
for the brass tags
of those still missing
hazy sunlight
makes its way down
the appalachians
an eerie reflection
in the sheen of a slurry
the sulphur smell
near a tumble-down
mountain
no one is sure
how long slag will burn
abandoned tipple
a barefoot boy
contemplates
the world
with folded arms
This anthology is available for purchase on Amazon.com by clicking on the following link:
Coal: A Poetry Anthology
