Friends
The Ocean Deeps Colliery is a site to be seen,
As we donned miners hats at this museum
He proudly portrayed mining history
They manned their picks and shovels
The pride of his mining brotherhood
When you visit the Miners' Museum
(c) Viola Doncaster, Aug. 1992.
The Old Pine
Tree
So Tiny and Trusting
Mining Heritage -
at the Miner's Museum
a replica true to its name,
where the spirit of our mining heritage
is the Miners' Museum's fame.
then trailed down underground,
through the model Ocean Deeps Colliery
"Jim Smith" led us around.
telling tales of yesteryear,
when young lads worked down under
overcoming many fears.
digging Cape Breton's gold,
well known to these hometown miners
as black and dusty coal.
shone through this retired man,
as he reminisced of the dark, damp pits,
and how mining helped shape our land.
don't miss this colliery tour,
it's a vital part of our history
and our national mining folklore.
------------------------
Dedicated to all miners and their families.
The Old Apple Tree -
The old apple tree
On Currie's Lane
once stood strong and tall,
bearing fresh juicy apples
for harvesting in the Fall.
As youngsters we would climb it
and call out to our friends,
"We need to climb further
so the limbs will bend;
then we can reach the apples
and bring them home to our Moms,
so they'll make pies and apple sauce
and we'll enjoy eating some."
At times we ate the apples though,
one right after another,
but we learned from aching bellies,
it's best to bring them home to Mother.
It seems strange now
to see this old tree,
returning to the earth
from where it came to be.
With passing years its' strength withered
as each branch bent lower down,
and today the old tree snuggles,
so close to the ground.
From within its' roots
new tiny trees now grow.
It seems the old tree knows,
its' time has come to go.
Like this familiar old apple tree,
our time will come too.
May the life that we now share,
leave other's strength renewed.
-----------------------
(c) Viola Doncaster
Dedicated to the Curries, the Cusacks,
the Murphys and the MacAskills
- our apple tree neighbours.
Written in 1992 for my book of poems.
Signs of History
We took a dirve out in the country
preparing for "election day"
amazed at autumn's beauty
as we travelled on our way.
The folks we met were friendly.
We were greeted with many a smile,
and we enjoyed some cups of tea
as we chatted with them a while.
We recognized signs of history,
vacant homes and barren lands,
old apple trees and alders,
and soil once tilled by hand.
There were numerous huge rock piles
that showed where land was cleared,
and growing farms had prospered
in times of yesteryear.
There were ash trees and maple trees
dressed in autumn lure,
birch, and spruce, and poplar
along Loch Lomond Shore.
We witnessed signs of new life too,
evident all around,
folks harvesting potatoes
and neighbours dropping round.
This was a day I will remember
for happy times we shared,
with people making history,
kindly showing folks they cared.
- - - - - - - - - -
(c) Viola Doncaster, East Bay, CB
I wrote this poem on October 5, 1991
and it is included in my book of poems.