Pike River Mine disaster

[jack]

Gidday

Today most of this little country is in mourning. 29 miners who have been trapped underground since Friday morning have now been presumed dead after a second very large explosion.

www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10689823

[Pharmer Phil]

Very sad Jack, I saw the story on the world news about them being trapped, did not know of the explosion Yesterday...Prayers going out to all, what a horrible way to go

[Penny]

I too, saw this on the news......its so sad, and breaks your heart when you think of the families.

[ChileFarmer]

We to have been watching this tragedy on the news. It is really a very sad.
CF

[jack]

Gidday

I just found this today and it is beautiful. But before you can understand it fully the referece to Cousters comes from the fact that the Pike River mine is in the region known as the West Coast here and the locals are normally refered to as Cousters even though there are many other coastal regions in New Zealand.

********************************************

THE MEN OF PIKE

They came from near and far away
The men of Pike to work that day
The afternoon shift way down deep
Beneath the mountains oh so steep

A long way in but further out
The afternoon shift sets about
A job not flash but hard and trying
A job that holds the risk of dying

From seventeen to sixty two
They start their shift to see it through
For one his first, for all their last
How could they know there’d be a blast?

For all at once no siren whining
Suddenly the worst in mining
Dust and rubble fill the air
A loader driver thrown clear

Just one other finds the light
The rest are hidden from our sight
And so we learn as news is spread
The news that mining families dread

It’s up at Pike there’s an explosion
Faces drop and hearts are frozen
Who, how many, where and why ----
Will they make it ---- will they die

Fathers, husbands, brothers, sons
Coasters, Kiwis, Aussies, Poms
Mates and friends who we are seeking
Methane gas from coal seams leaking

Vents exploded, phones unheeded
Level heads and strength are needed
The world above unites as one
To bring the missing to the sun

Rescue teams are standing by
As holes are drilled and experts try
To find a way that’s safe and sound
To rescue those beneath the ground

Could robots work where men are mortal
To pierce the dangers of that portal
But alas all effort fails
The darkness of the mine prevails

A second blast of rock and thunder
Hope and prayers are rent asunder
A nation weeps and Coasters mourn
Pike falls silent, dark, forlorn

A hole remains within the ground
Devoid of joy, of life, of sound
Another hole within the heart
Of those forever set apart

From those they loved who went to toil
Digging coal beneath the soil
Those who gave their lives that day
To work a shift for honest pay

They wait at rest within their mine
The men of Pike, the Twenty Nine

Sean Plunket

[ChileFarmer]

Very nice indeed. Thanks for posting Jack. CF

[Pharmer Phil]

A very touching poem, so sad this happened Jack, I do hope that the victims families will receive some sort of compenstaion to see them through these terrible times