I FIND MYSELF
THINKING ABOUT MY DEAR DAD, IT IS 49 YEARS AGO TODAY
HE AND MY BROTHER-IN LAW LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE
SPRINGHILL
COAL MINES, I LOVED MY DAD VERY MUCH, HE WAS MY
HERO, AND I MISS HIM AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! THIS
POEM TELLS THE STORY BETTER THAN I CAN………….
MY
DAD WAS A MINER AT AN EARLY AGE
WORKED VERY HARD FOR A TINY WAGE
DOWN IN THE DEEP THE TROLLEYS WOULD-CARRY
HIM AND HIS PEACE CAN AND BUDDIES SO MERRY
FIND A GOOD SEAM AND SWING HIS PICK
COAL FALLING DOWN IN LUMPS SO THICK
WITH THE LIGHT ON HIS HAT HE COULD CLEARLY SEE
HIS BUDDIES WORKING AS HARD AS HE
FALL LOTS OF COAL AND REACH FOR HIS
SHOVEL,
LOAD UP THE CARS WITHOUT ANY TROUBLE
SO DARK AND SO DAMP DOWN IN THAT ROTTEN HOLE
BUT HE
EARNED HIS
LIVING DIGGING COAL
LIFE CHANGES WITH THE PASSAGE OF TIME
BUT WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE....
WE’LL NEVER FORGET THAT OCTOBER NIGHT; WHEN THE SPRINGHILL
MINE CLAIMED
BOTH FATHER AND SON
IN MY
HOME THAT NIGHT WE LOST TWO WONDERFUL
FATHERS AND TWO HUSBANDS AND A GRANDFATHER. I DID
THIS FOR
“MY DAD” AND MY
” BROTHER-IN-LAW” ” HENRY ALEXANDER TEED”
AGE 57, MY DAD AND
“ KENNETH
NORMAN GOODE “ AGE
29 MY BROTHER-IN-LAW!
I WAS 26
AT THAT TIME WITH FOUR CHILDREN LIVING IN YARMOUTH.
NS, MY LATE HUSBAND, “REG”
WOULD TRAVEL BACK AND FORTH WITH ME AND FOUR KIDS.
IT WAS A NINE-HOUR TRIP; HE DID THAT SO I COULD BE
THERE FOR MY SISTER DARLENE AND MY MUM. OCTOBER-23-
1958 A TIME IN MY LIFE I WILL NEVER FORGET
COAL
MINER’S DAUGHTER, HELEN
TEED -GIBSON
