Not Broken - A poem

In honor of the fallen miners who died in our nation's mines in 2017. Shared and presented at two recent mine safety conferences. Candles were illuminated throughout the room, one for each of the men who died while just trying to make a living, feed their families and work until retirement.

While I am honored to be asked to do this, I look forward to the day when there are no candles lit and any words of reflection are recited to remember the dead of long ago, not the previous year.

Mining, surprisingly enough, is one of the safest industries in the U.S. Incredible strides have been made, but there is so much more to do. Too many unnecessary deaths.

Not Broken
~ By Tery L. Tyson 

I can feel the cracks, but I’m not broken
Heart aches each time your face comes to me

And your memory is more than a token

Of what I truly want to see,
 

You were a brother, father, son, and friend

One in a million, they say, “like no other.”

But its our spirit we wish to mend

As we hear “there was another.”
 

Mechanic, driller, laborer, miner and boss

Makes no difference, you are now gone

While we grieve, and cry at our loss

As we honor your work and life, we are drawn
 

Together in somber solace to remember

Your work, your life, your life and your LIFE

Means more than a candle as we seek the answer

To end the death, to end the pain; cutting like a knife
 

So that no more, a family will need to feel

The emptiness in each one of us today

Shared with them knowing in our appeal

There is more to do, more to learn, more to say.
 

Our purpose is true, right, unwavering and resolute

You will be the last of the remembered but never lost.

This is our charge, our duty, job ONE, no substitute

To keep you, me and others safe, no matter the cost.