For the Miners
by Eddy Robey



We have all been touched by the plight of the trapped miners in Pennsylvania.
At one time, I visited the mine country of Wales. There, growing in that
scarred landscape, was a wildflower which brightened an otherwise bleak
vista.

The Crowflower, also called a Ragged Robin, has been a literary inspiration
before. It was one of the blossoms that Shakespeare chose to place in
Ophelia's sad bouquet. There is something prayerful about its presence amidst
the rocks.


  Crowflower

  Palest pink, valiantly they offer all
 
  Their ragged hearts as proof of sunshine's kiss.
 
  The toilsome land holds men both brave and tall,
 
  Who live bent over in the mines, and miss
 
  The sweet caress of Springtime, with its bright
 
  Promise that there can be life abundant.
 
  Blackness in the tunnels, and in the flight
 
  of crows which scavenge everywhere, can daunt
 
  The bravest spirits. Make them doubt that God
 
  Can see amidst the dirt in which they crawl.
 
  If not, what hope is there, when under sod
 
  Their broken bodies lie? This flower, small
 
  But gallant, does battle for each soul, when
 
  She rears her perfumed head in this Welsh glen.

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