I Entered

I Entered
b
I entered
by dark walls
blood red
and
purged myself
in ecstasy
uncommon
of fluid
as ancient
as a
primordial sea

The Witness

The Witness
by
Tom Roach

I am a miner and I delve the dark depths of the earth.
Where every second’s full of fright and men are only there on sufferance.
Where rocks can tumble crushing us, our shrieks and groans and flying blood
they cover all and we who live can only stand and stare.
Where we call Christ and call again - the Devil’s howl our sole reply.

Oh Lord, why was I above the ground, the day those damned birds flew? To be below in my black mine would have been better.
Why was I there to hear the rocket’s roar?  Why was I there to hear the bang?
Why was I there to look up at the sky and see the whirling, twirling people?
Why was I the one to find the little girl? Her blond hair streamed, her blue eyes smiled and in her mouth she’d tucked her thumb.

I’ve often seen, a thousand feet beneath my toes, the Devil’s work in progress.
But I never thought in G’d’s blue sky I’d see the Devil openly.
That day I looked toward the sun and there I saw him laughing.
That’s what I saw, good Lord, the day the Devil made the black birds fly.