The Cut

Deep the cut for Hartley coal.
A rocky island sliced,
So ships could sail for sand
Glassed, bottled, transported far from home.

Furnaces fuelled by blackest seams –
Where cones once stood, we eat ice creams.

Cleft, the land demanded sacrifice.
204 the tally price.

Paid by mothers, daughters, grieving queen.
As fathers, sons and comrades dreamed
Of shafts of sunlight, unbroken beams.

#26Steps N-O  |  North Shields to Old Hartley, Tyne & Wear  |  Michelle Nicol http://www.word-struck.com