A Miner's Legacy

A boy was born a miner's son He never knew him well, For his father died when he was young Within that pit of hell, His mother left to fend alone She did all she could do, And taught him honest Christian ways The only ways she knew. Her son was all she had in life She gave him all she had, He brought her joy when all the world Around her made her sad, In him she saw her husband And a memory of the past, With all the happy times they shared That sadly couldn't last. They starved within their solitude They had no food to eat, Too proud were they to ask for help Or beg upon the street, She scrubbed and ironed, she washed and cleaned She swept each dusty floor, But barely earned enough to keep The landlord from their door. As she worked her fingers to the bone Her health began to fail, Her son did tend to all her needs As she grew old and frail, He mopped her brow when fever came And prayed for her each day, Yet sadly prayers were not enough And soon she passed away. He wept then at her funeral When they laid her down to rest, Beside her loving husband For it was her last request, He placed a rose upon her grave Beside the cross of stone, And he'd never felt so empty As he stood there all alone. He found a job within the mine He then grew up so fast, Became a man and not a child His pain though never passed, He slaved and toiled upon that seam The only life he knew, And never saw the light of day Nor saw the skies of blue. Until one morn the shaft collapsed And trapped him underground, The other miners called his name But they heard not a sound, They tried their best to save him But alas it was in vain, They found his lifeless body And all did feel that pain. The town came out to mourn him As they laid him in the grave, Beside that of his parents Where the flowers gently wave, Where sunlight falls upon their stones And shadows softly lie, To rest in peace for evermore Beneath the wondrous sky.