When Tears turn to Dust

I thought this was a good poem Jenny. True and poignant.

This is true of so many problems that go from generation to generation; like the people cutting down the rain forests because there's no other work
or the people on council estates who join criminal gangs because of lack of opportunity/adequate role models-

"forced by predestined quandary...
their ancestral family all they new"

I think that you use the imagery of not being able to see the sun as a good metaphor for the way that these men are trapped in their situation by poverty
and lack of education.

"so he would drill till siren sounded once more,
we pit ponies never knowing the bright daylight,
but for them at the end of a working day, up top
few hours of blue sky, before darkness once more".

I come from a big ex-coal mining area. I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand it was bad for the environment but on the other hand it was a massive part of our culture. Best gone but not forgotten, I think.

JoHn

This also reminded me of the recent mining incident Jennifer. Just a couple typos in the text ...

Hi there, Jenny. I really enjoyed this.

Two tiny typos:- Stanza 3, should be 'too few to look upon' and in the fifth stanza, should be 'all they knew'.

I spent a lot of time up in Durham when I was a child. My father was stationed near there in the war and he made lifetime friends with many mining families. The warmth of those people was overwhelming. There is so much truth in your poem, Jenny and it brought it all back to me.

Much enjoyed.

Tina

Great poem and title Jenny It is clear enough it was a pony not a man, though I wasn't sure of sing out of long hours meant K

You have captured an atmosphere very well here Jenny- I got a good picture of the hard life as a miner. We have no coal mines in Denmark. Well done

;)Pia

Thankyou JoHn for your kind comment. I'm really
glad you enjoyed and thankyou for letting me know.

Jenny.

Hello Blessings,

appreciate you reading and the comment. Thankyou
for reading my poem and for telling me your thoughts.

Jenny.

Hello Tina,

first can I say thankyou for helping me out with the
mistakes.

I tried to tell this story from the pit ponies
perspective, hope that came across. I'm glad I
could conjure up those memories for you.

Thankyou so much for reading and letting me know.

Jenny.

Hello Pia,

I'm so glad you could capture the atmosphere in this
poem. It must have been awful for those miners to
never see the light of day with the long hours they
worked, I can't imagine what they must have felt like
and those poor pit ponies, lived down in those mines,
so never got to see the light either, but then again
I suppose they never knew anything else.

Still at least this poem came out of it all.

Thankyou for reading and commenting always appreciated.

Jenny.

Hi Kahdai,

glad you could get the perspective of the pit ponies,
it was what I was trying to convey.

About the singing out, I was thinking to convey that the welsh are such good singers, that they would probably have sung songs about their fathers going down the mines and the long hours they would have put in and the hardships.

But thankyou for reading and letting me know your
thoughts.

Jenny.

Hi julie,

that was so kind of you to read this poem. I too
remember the coal men with their sacks of coal and
looking so black, also the dust must have clogged
their lungs up really bad.

I know you said I should put it under Biography,
but it wasn't really about anyone in paticular, so
I decided to put it under miscellaneous, but I do
know what you mean.

I bet your Mum's Grandfather was very strong, he
must have been, to carry those heavy bags of coal.

Anyway julie, again thankyou for reading my poem and
letting me know.

Jenny.xx

Hi, Jenny. I thought you made it very clear that it was from the pit pony's perspective because of the line:

"we pit ponies never knowing the bright daylight,"

but I also thought you were drawing parallels between the lives of the ponies and the miners.
I think that this poem works on more than one level.

JoHn -

"Ex amore victoria". ("From love comes victory".)

Hi there JoHn,

you were quite right, I was drawing the parallels
between the lives of the ponies and the miners.

I'm pleased that you could grasp what I was trying
to say and thankyou for coming back to me with those
kind words.

Jenny.

That part is a lovely idea Jenny probably singing about blue sky! K

Hi Kahdai,

yes they would sing about the blue sky too, also the
wonderful Welsh scenery.

Thanks for coming back to me.

Jenny.

Thankyou so much cherry pickers, it's nice when you
think a piece of my work is worth the cherries and
they are always very much appreciated.

Thankyou again for reading.

Jenny.

new skinner_jennifer
Hi! jenny,very well written.
Absolutely true, everthing you
have written. Look at the awful
explosions recently. Risked their
lives. The men would sing majority
men known, Welsh have good voices.
They worked and lived their lives,
always at risk. Maybe shoul go under,
Biography! Title drew me in at first
to read.Of course their bodies from top,
to toe and faces, be covered in coal mining
merals and coal dust. A relation worked coal place. When I first went to work at 14 I worked coal co;an Aunt lived opposite coal dust never came of when place dusted.Mum's grandfather worked coal.
Dustman used to lag, it heavy on their shoulders covered tip into coal cellars. Bad for the lungs too.
Have a good day.So pits been terrible.
People work in any job, don't get the light needed
if working inside either. Hope week-ends fine, for light. Well done on writing this.
I answered thanks comment. Lost mine damn computer,
no glasses on maybe. Men had to hump on their backs,
faces covered black from dust of coal and tip it in
coal cellars. Not big built. But office and all had go for x rays, chest for safety all of us!
Title made me think was loss of love on at first.
I think differently whoops!
julie xx

Really strong and very real, if you see what I mean.
A good read Jenny.

Trying to catch up with my reading!X

Hello coral,

I'm so glad you could catch the sentiments behind
this piece and really appreciate you letting me
know.

Thankyou for reading. I do know how hard it is to
keep up with others work, when you have so much
going on in your personal life, which makes me
appreciate your comment even more.

Thankyou again.

Jenny. X

I liked this poem very much. I am reminded of those lines from Reading Goal "I never saw a man who looked with such a wistful eye upon that little tent of blue we prisoners call the sky." Working underground, whether man or beast, divorces us from the wonder of daylight - and must be very like being in prison I think;)

Hi Juniperus,

I've never read those lines before that you quoted,
they seem really meaningful and it was very kind of
you to let me know that you enjoyed reading this
piece.

Thankyou.

Jenny.

Now that's how to tell a story in poetry. I will watch your writing with interest.

Hello Mark,

it was very kind of you to read this poem and I
really do appreciate you letting me know.

Thankyou.

Jenny.