ONE OF THE TRAPPED CHILEAN MINERS WAS A POET

by J.R. Solonche


Do not send down for me.
Instead send down the food and the drink.
Send down the clean bed-pans.
Send down the pencils and the paper.
Send down the wooden flute.
My eyes are used to the dark.
I’m staying here.

Do not send down for me.
Instead send down the clean bed-pans.
Send down the food and the drink.
Send down the pencils and the paper.
Send down the wooden flute.
My ears are used to my heartbeat.
I’m staying here.

Do not send down for me.
Instead send down the pencils and the paper.
Send down the food and the drink.
Send down the clean bed-pans.
Send down the wooden flute.
My mouth is used to my voice.
I’m staying here.

Do not send down for me.
Instead send down the wooden flute.
Send down the food and the drink.
Send down the clean bed-pans.
Send down the pencils and the paper.
My soul is used to my body.
I’m staying here.

Do not send down for me.
I’m staying here.
The earth is used to me.


J.R. Solonche is co-author (with wife Joan Siegel) of Peach Girl: Poems for a Chinese Daughter (Grayson Books). His poems have appeared in many magazines, journals, and anthologies since the 1970s. He teaches at SUNY Orange in Middletown, New York.
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