Black Pit

For most of my life, I’ve lived in the darkness,
The lust for crown shyness fading under
The bleakness of my coal mine shift,
In the belly of the mountain, digging deep

For I ponder, and my mind wanders
Into the dark tunnels with sunless echoes
In the depths of my longing plea,
Have I served my purpose in this life?

Calloused and scarred, I lookout for Willie,
With smeared faces, we grit, we sweat
My brother in my arms, wed to blackened days,
Untethered by blood but bonded with soul

As Willie’s taillight goes out of sight,
Lily hides her fear, a true coal miner’s wife.
With flickering lanterns, we risk our lives
For a loaf of bread and spare dimes.

On one fateful morn, the earth roared,
Beneath the tons of rubble, Willie lay confined,
Our hearts heavy with dread for the unfound,
Amidst the despair, a soul may still cling to life.

The Beralt withdraws their support,
Rescuers retreat, the mine grinds to a forever halt
But I persist in digging, guided by hope’s ray,
Six months passed by, Did I serve my purpose in this life?

The dead air brings tranquil to my bones,
I labour and toil through nine to five,
lead me to lit the rosy hope
that one day, Willie will return back to our lives.

ABOUT

Ruchi Acharya is a writer hailing from Mumbai, India. She’s the Founder and CEO at Wingless Dreamer Publisher. Her publishing company works for the welfare of writers and artists all across the globe to gain recognition and appreciation for their work. She strongly believe in preserving literature, culture and history by rejuvenating and introducing the same through her products and services. Her work has been published in more than 100 journals all around the world. Her poetry book, Off the Cliff is now available on Amazon. Her website is here.