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 Post subject: Pike River Coal Miners New Zealand
PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 6:51 pm 
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Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2009 6:13 am
Posts: 237
Location: New Zealand
This poem was written by Sean Plunket formerly of Radio NZ. It is so moving that I felt I must share it with you.




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



Chris
in New Zealand

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 9:39 pm 
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Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 2:16 pm
Posts: 1500
Location: Central Ohio
Chris I ment to ask you on the last email I sent you.....what is the story about all of this? I just saw a video of a 4th blast.

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Pioneering the next INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (Preservation ! ). . . Saving equipment (1) mine site at a time.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 2:40 pm 
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Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2009 6:13 am
Posts: 237
Location: New Zealand
Pete, here is a link to most of the story, other articles are listed on other pages. There was a tremendous self-serving interest by the news media here trying to capitalise on the Chilean resuce effort.
The CEO of Pike River Coal Peter Whittall was very competent on air and at meetings, shooting down every stupid repetitive question and supposition that the dopey reporters could throw at him.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4368031/Pike-River-Mine-disaster-timeline

Chris
in New Zealand

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