Wednesday, January 04, 2006

All But One

All but one died.

Can you even begin to imagine?

I am so sad for the families of those poor men.




all your daylight i dig in darkness
you feel the wind while i break the stone
in the blackness far below you
my blood runs through veins of coal
veins of coal, veins of coal
my blood runs through veins of coal

a shaft of daylight collapsed behind us
sirens scream up the valley, families moan
in the blackness my breath is fading
in an ocean of frozen stone
frozen stone, frozen stone
in an ocean of frozen stone

do you hear a canary
in a cage in a cave under ground
is she crying or is she singing
in a cage in a cave under ground

i can see you move my body
not connected to my soul
i am floating right beside you
though you touch me i am alone
i'm alone, i'm alone
though you touch me i am alone

do you hear a canary
in a cage in a cave under ground
is she dying or is she sleeping
in a cage in a cave under ground

carry me high into the mountains
pray the Good Lord takes my soul
do not place me beneath the surface
i have been there for far too long
far to long, far too long
i have been there for far too long

let the wind blow through my rib cage
let the sunshine bleach my skull
some day my tears will reach the ocean
and my bones will turn into coal
turn to coal, turn to coal
and my bones will turn to coal

turn to coal, turn to coal
and my bones will turn to coal

-richie stearns

2 comments:

nadzent said...

Yikes. Gives me chills. Who is Richie Sterns (forgive my ignorance).

Big Ernie said he knew Grandfather was trapped once for 24 hours in a mine. Alone. He also said that Grandmother's brother, Uncle Tony, blew the entrance to the mine shut late one night because he and (most likely) Grandmother thought it was time Grandfather found a new job since he was father to 6 children. I would love to hear more stories if your mom knows of any.

anne said...

Richie Stearns is a singer/banjo player in the Finger Lakes region of NY. The song Veins of Coal is the first song on his cd Solo.

I'm sure my mom could tell quite a few stories. I want to get her one of those journals with the prompts and maybe encourage her to write some things down.