This poem, a response to last month’s mine
disaster in West Virginia, is written from the perspective of those
waiting aboveground. The earth itself becomes a character in the story. The
“black diamonds” can be seen as the miners themselves. Lonely Vigil They
wait,
all through the endless night,
standing in small groups,
praying.
Trying to
keep
the fear from showing.
Far beneath the rough, green
hills
the earth has taken offense
at the onslaught,
the constant
attack
upon a dark world that began
when clumsy dinosaurs
sipped
nectar
from pomegranate trees
before falling beneath a shifting,
swallowing
world
at war with itself.
The black diamonds lay far
beneath
these vigilant, waiting watchers.
Just before dawn
they
cease their lonely vigil,
understanding that once again
an angry,
hungry earth
has swallowed the small creatures
who dared to scale its
throat. — Dorthy M. Ross Dorthy Ross was named Springfield Woman of the Year in
1982. She lives on a farm near Rochester with her husband and son and is
active in the Rochester Historical Preservation Society.
This article appears in Feb 2-8, 2006.
