‘Coal Conflict

coal makes money
money buys food
coal built our house 
then buried him alive
while stealing
what was not
 theirs to take
he black gold, coal
 smothered in its 
black dust
 the lungs of
innocents 
Children who trembled
with a shovel 
in the dark
Coal makes a price
but comes at a 
terrible cost

(C)
Eunice C English 2023