Poetic Tuesday: Gold's Call

Gold

In time long past the stories were told

Of brave men searching for lost gold.

They searched from sea to shore

But ne’er did they find the golden ore

Until one day they stumbled on golden vein

Far below the stars.

The men stayed there and mined the gold

And said no word ‘till they grow old

And all then swarmed by gold intox’d

To hills of gold whence fortune sprung

And searched and mined and ruined the land

Far below the stars.

But veins do often dry when tapped

And dry did vein become after years

And all left the hills of gold,

The place where they grew old

And sought a new horizon

Far below the stars.

The land fought back and closed the holds

That old men mined to search for gold

And grew slow upon the heaps of stone

So that green became the horrid bone

Until the land had conquered gold

Far below the stars.

And so the ages passed once more

Without a single thought of ore

In the valley lying still

Where no one will search until

They stumble on a golden vein

Far below the stars.

This poem was written about the same time as the first draft of the story which became "The No Good Killer". Unfortunately, I can't quite remember what exactly I had read about gold mining which led me to write these pieces. Something which have left quite an imprint on my mind is the many mine dumps around Johannesburg (living in the "City of Gold" does have its drawbacks. For instance; the streets are not paved with gold).

These are some photos of mine dumps outside Johannesburg, taken on a trip from Bloemfontein[1] to Johannesburg about two years ago. (The photos show the transition of the open plains of the Free State until you reach the city with its millions of people. More as a reference for me than a great piece of art.)

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[1] Yes, the Bloemfontein where Tolkien was born. And, yes, I did ‘squee’ a bit about it when I was in the city. Unfortuantely I didn’t have time to search for the plaque commemorating his birthplace, as I was working very long hours.