Here’s the poem I wrote about Aberfan that I mentioned in my last blog post, the one that Judith Porch based her powerful calligraphic piece upon…
(It was originally published under my non-writing name, on the BBC Wales website.)
Aberfan 4
I saw Aberfan as it happened.
Stood, that hot afternoon
In Pen-y-Wern.
Staring out across the deep, green bowl
Between us.
Tasted the black gold filling my throat
While the sun beat down
And the Heads of the Valleys shimmered.
They said I imagined it
But I did not.
I felt those small, dark-eyed children,
Just like me,
Meet their clawing, tarry deaths.
Heard their parents screaming
As they dug, and dug
Amongst the slimy black
That paid their wages and
Filled their children’s mouths.
They said I imagined it
It was morning and a
Steady rain falling.