Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Alan Buckley - Deep
Well Versed is edited by Jody Porter

Deep
Alan Buckley

Be a Miner. Because Britain Will Always Need Coal – National Coal Board advertisement, 1970s

Nineteen eighty-four, eighty-five.
They knew austerity long before
we did. An uncivil war.
They had to dig deep to survive.
Their fears would be proved right:
Close the pit and you might
as well put a sign at the school that says
DOLE OFFICE – THIS WAY.
But it was all such a long time ago.
Orgreave isn’t Hillsborough, or so
it’s claimed. Let sleeping
slag heaps lie. Let the grass grow.
Let puzzled children ask the meaning
of the word colliery.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
21st Century Poetry / 29 July 2026
29 July 2026

by Mary Gilonne

21st Century Poetry / 24 July 2026
24 July 2026

by Alistair Findlay

21st Century Poetry / 22 July 2026
22 July 2026

by Mike Jenkins

21st Century Poetry / 8 July 2026
8 July 2026

by Rosie Jackson