A Flat Miner

by Troy Kokol (Troy Kokol)

V1

He boarded a vessel in the Port of Gdansk.

A young polish gypsy with holes in his pants.

With hopes in his satchel, he took to the sea

And set out in search of the American dream,

 

V2

But when he arrived the only work he could find

Was toiling away in a bitumen mine

Digging for coal with a pickax and drill

For pennies a day in the Black Mountain hills.

 

Pre1

Then one fateful day, a mile below ground

A blast from the surface sent the walls crashing down.

Caught under a boulder that fell from above,

The men tried to save him but all they found was

 

Ch

A flat miner

Squashed like a Polish potato pancake.

He was tall and so strong,

Now he’s flat and oblong

Like the latkes his mom used to make.

 

V3

Sending him home was the right thing to do,

So they made a giant shovel from a rusty tin roof.

It was built wide enough to pick the man up,

But halfway down the hole, the big thing got stuck.

 

Pre2

The whole village gathered when they heard the news,

And it wasn’t long ‘til the papers came too.

The headline next day said, “Crushed Like a Bug”,

And there on the front page was a picture of

 

Ch

 

Bridge

The country was shocked, the world was aghast.

Eventually, they turned to oil and gas.

So, next time you’re driving or fill up your tank

Or fly to the tropics remember to thank

 

Ch