I came home from Rome
And from my studies
And found my dad
Studying the form
I consulted him
About the state of the nation
This miners’ strike
What’s the right and wrong?
There’s right and wrong on both sides
First he told me
But what disturbs me most
To you I’ll tell
No one has a good word for the miners
For TV and for papers
The miners can go to hell
My father had been a miner
Knew the game
Had been a soldier too
Been through a war
Experience of life
He had in spades
A calmness unperturbed
His eyes saw far
Thatcher and Scargill
Deserved each other
Their battle lines were drawn
They went gung-ho
But the folk caught in the middle
Were the losers
Lost their jobs
Had nowhere else to go
Caring for each other
Is the issue
Always was
Until the end of time
On your bike won’t fix it
No matter how you mix it
Social care the issue
Every time
Brian Fahy
22 October 2021
Erris Poetry 