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 thered 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

Its up at Pike theres 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 thats 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