Bring Them Home

Calloused
are
the fingers
of those
who dig
for coal
who ply
their trade
in the blackness
of the crosscuts
of the soul
wherein terror
lingers
beneath
a brave veneer
silent
yet still palpable
a relentless
aching
fear

Bring them home
bring them home
who work
underground
to their daughters
and mothers
their loved ones
their own
leave them not
forgotten
bring them home

Frantic
the rejoinders
from those
They send below
the draegermen
who dig
for signs
of life
in those they know
buried
in the rubble
in the politics
of shame
by the weight
of sheer necessity
to earn
a desperate wage

Bring them home
bring them home
who work underground
to their daughters
and mothers
their loved ones
their own
leave them not
forgotten
bring them home

Can you justify
the means
with an end
that has no meaning
none at all
and will another
liturgy
matter
very much
at all?

Bring them home
bring them home
who work underground
to their daughters
and mothers
their loved ones
their own
leave them not
forgotten
bring them home

leave them not
forgotten
bring them home