33
he’s standing
in the doorway
a coal miner’s son
and he’s talking about
this great big sack of potatoes
something he remembered
a moment …
his dad was there
he was there
an observer even then
he watched him carry that sack
through the door
and as children do
he followed him about
but the mines were
not for children
and the boy standing
in the doorway
was left
to wonder
if the mines were
not for men
not for a man
who could have been
with the wind
horizon high
chasing the sun
not underground
deep down
pick and shovel
who could have flown
through the clouds
not waded
through the smoke
who could have
come home
that day
and lived to see
his boy
a man
but such is life
no one knows
the bend
none but Him
TL