The hooter booms
The day awakes
Coal trucks rattle past my door
Ice traces faces on the window pane
Memories of what went before.
Dust in my hair
Dust in my nose
Dust in my clothes and mouth
Rats scurry empty
Miners hurry silently
The dawn breaks past my door
Hot tea poured in an old tin mug
Memories of what went before.
Dust in my hair
Dust in my nose
Dust in my clothes and mouth
Cash machine spitting
Newspapers selling
The sun rises past my door
The pit wheel turns and children run
Memories of what went before.
Dust in my hair
Dust in my nose
Dust in my clothes and mouth
The day grinds on
The miners crawl in
Coal dust settles past my door
Rag man yells and old wives polish
Memories of what went before.
Dust in my hair
Dust in my nose
Dust in my clothes and mouth
Dinner-time snap
The kids full o’ spice
Laughter lingers past my door
Coal cutters cutting and babies crying
Memories of what went before.
Dust in my hair
Dust in my nose
Dust in my clothes and mouth
No one really knows
But many more fear
Rumours circulate past my door
The milk snatcher she is snatching
The memories of what went before.
(I lived in the mining village of Darton near Barnsley from 1978 to 1982. It was a thriving, happy and hard-working community. But by the end of 1984 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her Conservative Government had destroyed the mining industry. Darton and many other villages like it have never recovered.)
No Time to Think 