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MY MOTHER SWORE
© 2004 by David Llewellyn

My mother swore and crossed her heart
"You're never going down"
You've seen them, black, and coughing dust
Old men before their time
The colliery, the face, the pit
Just wait with baited breath
Cause just where else can you find work
A life sentence passed, no less

So quick, to school, and tarry not
Along the railway line
That carries those black diamond chips
To Cardiff and Penwaen

A banker or a lawyer
Give astronaut a shot
It doesn't really matter
Just as long as you are not
Crawling in black water
Black as coal and Hades hot
Breathing up that poisoned air
Could be your last, as like as not

No. Not for you. No pit head baths
No pit wheels spinning round
Cause God I swear while I'm alive
You're never going down