Hewing by Philip Hood

Philip Hood is working on a cycle of poems reflecting the work of the Ashington Group under the title of: A soft-southerner approaches the Pitmen Painters

(The Miner, Lesley Brownrigg c 1935, oil or walpamur on card stuck to 3-ply). 

Shots fired, the hewer sets his stance,
strength through thighs and calves, a balanced

body leaning, back arched and biceps swelling, 

eyes cast down, the coal becoming lumps

splintering from whole rock-face 

hidden an eternity;       
is this work at depth a solitary task, 

can you hear your fellow-worker,
do you sign or lip-read the craic, the banter,

which breaks the shift into more manageable minutes;
must your minds be ever-focused, 

do they escape?  
Is there a rhythm and a muscle-memory,
does such core, resilient strength  
come naturally, unthinkingly, from daily repetition, 

or, do you, shift on shift, with each descent, 

think yourself into a coping strategy?   
Which muscles, tendons, ligaments  
are strained or strengthened as you break the coal? 
Your taut-drawn sinews speak the immensity
of just five minutes of this toil and your colours

hide the taste and texture of 

this deep pit-blackened air.