King Coal (2023) Movie Script
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Paw Paw always said
that every new beginning
starts with an end.
It's been true for us,
living our lives
here in this place,
a place of mountains and myths.
Some think place
matters less today
in a world where people,
things, thoughts...
move from here to there,
unburdened by geography.
But here,
we know that our bodies are
only ever in one place.
I grew up here.
Four seasons.
Every year.
Maybe you've heard
a story or two about us.
Well, this story is about what
it's like to live under.
Got more food for you.
Coal drop coming up here...
very, very shortly.
So stick around for that.
All right, here we go.
58, 57, 56,
55, 54, 53, 52, 51,
13, 12, 11, 10,
nine, eight, seven, six,
five, four, three, two, one.
Happy New Year!
That thing's hard to turn.
Alex.
That's what we live on top of.
That's the ground.
That's what this town's made of.
Spin it, Alex.
As far back as I can remember,
coal has been leaving this place
on barges, trucks, and trains.
These mountains have
tons and tons of coal.
More than we can ever get to.
West Virginia is a state that
relies heavily on fossil fuels,
natural gas, and coal.
Coal's not even
what it used to be,
but it's still very important.
Coal prices are
very high right now.
Natural gas prices
are very high, so...
and West Virginia is ground zero
in this global struggle,
frankly,
over what the
energy future will be
because of our coal
and natural gases.
We're sitting on some of the
largest natural gas reserves
in the world.
$1.64 is your change,
and you have a very good day.
- You too, thank you.
- Thank you.
I don't remember
the day that I learned
I lived under King Coal.
She won't either.
I remember going on
field trips to the mines.
I remember humming along
to "Coal Miner's Daughter."
Well, I was borned
a coal miner's daughter
Welling up with pride,
feeling Loretta had written it
just for me.
I remember learning
that if I said anything bad
about the King,
I was betraying my loved ones.
That's when I learned
the tension
between loyalty and truth.
I learned...
To be quiet.
I'm still learning.
Coal is ancient,
formed of dead things
that lived long ago.
The King was formed
by our desire for more.
For most,
coal is a dirty polluter,
an unglamorous black rock.
But for those of us
who grew up with it,
coal is intrinsic.
Y'all help me out on this one.
"I was born one morning
when it was drizzling rain."
I was born one morning
when it was drizzling rain.
"I picked up my shovel
and I walked to the mines."
I picked up my shovel
and I walked to the mines.
"I loaded 16 ton
of number nine coal."
I loaded 16 ton
of number nine coal.
"And the straw boss said
'Well, bless my soul.'"
And the straw boss
said "Well, bless my soul."
Saint Peter, don't you call me.
"'Cause I can't go."
'Cause I can't go.
"I owe my soul."
I owe my soul.
"To the company store."
To the company store.
We go down about 600 feet.
You go down, it's got tracks
and metal mantrip cars
you ride in
that takes you
to these sections.
The mines have been
worked on about 70 years.
So it was real, real deep,
but it's real good coal
for making steel.
It's the most dangerous job
in the coal mines,
and it pays top dollar 'cause
you go down at a place,
and there's a place
about as big as this room,
and I was sitting towards
the back of my machine,
and I romped down on it.
I'm gonna go out
and get me a load.
And I romped down on it
and getting ready
to swing out there
to get me a load, and whoo!
A big methane explosion
happened,
and it come right
in front of me.
Man, two more seconds,
and I would have been right
into that thing,
and I hear if a miner gets
caught in a methane explosion,
it'll burn all the skin
off your body.
Eyeballs out of your socket,
and most likely,
you're going to be body parts.
Oh my goodness.
Yes, sir, ma'am?
You're very lucky that
you didn't get killed.
Yes. Yes, ma'am?
Do you miss being a coal miner?
Yes, I do. Yes, sir?
One more question.
- What is that?
- That's coal.
That's what real coal
feels like.
Can I feel it?
Yeah, you can touch it.
Whoa!
It feels like diamonds!
Feel it, yes.
How do you know
what diamonds feel like?
The King owns everything...
the land, the coal...
our hours.
Truth is,
the King isn't alive today,
not like he was.
But he's not dead, either.
I guess you could say
he's a ghost.
Over the years, support
for the king has waned.
So he's found his way
into other parts of our life.
Father, we thank you
for this rich resource
that we celebrate.
Bless West Virginia
and Kentucky,
and God bless
the United States of America.
In Jesus' name,
we pray when we all say...
Amen.
For nearly a century,
we've been told this place
is nothing without a king.
All we ever wanted
was a way to make a livin'.
Well done.
I've got costumes
of like different princesses.
I used to hate
princesses when I was little.
I was convinced that
Minnie Mouse was a princess.
Convinced.
Let's not make more work
for ourselves.
Well, I have an idea.
This can't be
more than three minutes.
I'm very over the top.
So, this is gonna be tricky.
Coking.
It says power generation, smithing.
Cooking coal.
And smithing.
Fertilizer
and steam power generation.
Wait, where do you see that at?
Oh, yeah.
I did not see that.
Percent of...
You own bituminous coal.
Or whatever it's called.
Is coal important
to your family?
I don't know.
Is it to your family?
Yes.
I don't know.
I like this.
I like the sparkly border.
After we glue all this on,
after we glue these two on,
do you just want to
go ahead and put, like,
- coal project or something?
- Yeah.
Bituminous.
Bituminous.
Here's what I found
from thoughtco.com.
The pronunciation of
bituminous is bit-amen
in British-English and
bi-tumen in North America.
Bituminous.
Bituminous, bituminous,
bituminous, bituminous.
Every day, the same song plays.
We dance to the beat
of the king's drum.
Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to the 66th Annual
Bituminous Coal Queen Pageant.
Tonight,
you will see 12 young ladies
representing
their local school district,
all vying for the coveted crown
worn by so many successful
queens before them.
Please welcome
candidate number one.
She would like to dedicate this
dance to all the coal miners
that have lost their lives
in the mines,
and to let them know
we won't forget about them.
We appreciate
all that they've done
and their work
will never go unnoticed.
Ladies and gentlemen,
candidate number one.
It's time to start
remembering dreams
Lift your eyes,
see the things unseen
Remember who you wanna be
Let the light
hit your eyes
Let out the beauty that's
been trapped inside
Let 'em know that
you're not gonna hide
I would encourage
other young ladies
to participate in this
pageant by welcoming them
and their families into
the King Coal Association.
My goal is to share my love
of coal with younger girls
as I would love to be
a leader for them,
as I myself have looked up
to many past coal queens.
We are representing
Southwestern Pennsylvania's
economy,
the community, our history.
I challenge you to go out
and ask your parents
or your grandparents
if anyone in your family
has ever worked in the
coal mining industry.
And if they have, I think
you'll be pleasantly surprised
by some of the stories you hear.
Thank you, candidate number 12.
I come from
three generations of miners.
My brother,
the fourth generation.
Paw Paw used to tell me
about the mines.
How you gotta control
all the elements.
Earth, air.
Fire, water.
All the things
that try to kill you.
Crush, suffocate.
Burn, drown.
He says going underground
is like going to space.
Going somewhere where
you're the first person
to touch that piece of earth.
One day, when I was little,
I tapped my Paw Paw on the back,
and he just about jumped
out of his skin.
He turned around so quick.
Face, white as a ghost.
"Don't sneak up on me."
He said, gently.
I learned that day that most
miners live closer to death.
That they're more like spiders
or birds.
That their bodies are more
attuned to the sounds, smells,
and vibrations
that can kill them.
Those of us
who don't work underground
don't have these magic powers.
There's not many miners
left today.
Fewer than 12,000
in West Virginia.
But the miner's identity
is one that gets embedded
in their bodies and their souls.
Once you break for
15 or 20 minutes or whatever,
and your skin just kinda
starts getting comfortable,
the threshold goes away,
and then it hurts.
I've almost got
the stencil ready,
so we'll be setting up
and tattooing shortly.
So, your dad was a miner too, right?
Yeah.
Was your grandpa a miner too?
My dad's dad started in...
in the '20s.
- Yeah.
- You know.
So I mean, that
was back in the...
That's back when
everybody was a coal miner.
Yeah, 8 to 80.
Blind, crippled, or crazy,
ain't it?
Yeah.
If you can ask for the job,
you got it.
Yeah.
My first day in,
I had a rib fall on me.
Second day in, I spent
the whole shift dragging hoses
out of three feet of water.
And then my third day in,
I seen a roof collapse
as big as the power center.
And I was just like...
it shook me.
- You know?
- And that was it?
And that was it, and I quit.
And then, like, later on,
I got to thinking about it,
I was like, you know, it's...
I don't want to say that
that stuff's common,
but that stuff...
your average
experienced coal miner has
a lot of knowledge about
that stuff, and how to...
you know how to act around it,
you know how to treat it
and handle it and whatnot.
And it doesn't really bother
you as much
'cause you understand
what's going on
and why it happened and stuff.
And I didn't, and I was
scared to death, and I quit.
But I did get to fall asleep
in the coal mines,
and that's an experience
I'll never forget.
- Mark it off the bucket list?
- Yes, it was worth it.
It was so worth it.
I've seen some doozies.
Have you ever been involved in
or seen major mine accidents?
I've known a few.
Yeah.
It's about an
800-plus-foot hole,
20 feet 'round,
and they were cutting
and welding on it.
You know, which he was
cutting at that time,
and some slag fell off.
And when it come down,
it caught a pocket of methane.
And it... the percussion of it
blew out a chain link fence.
But... and then they said that
it melted the glass...
his glasses frame to his...
um, to his face.
Oh, my God.
That creates the kind
of bond that you don't
- just make with any coworker.
- No.
But coal mining,
you go underground
and sacrifice your life.
You sweat and bleed and work.
Oh, yeah. I mean, it's...
- A typical friendship.
- It's family.
And you literally spend more
time at work with them guys
than you do with your family.
- Right.
- Yeah.
It's going to look good.
Yeah.
The fall of the Roman Empire.
I don't know how to say that.
Basilosaurus.
You know what?
We're calling you Bernie.
He's Bernie
and then he's Edward.
Tri-cer-op-a-sis.
Tri-cer-ah-tops.
Tricer-a-tops. I don't know.
Tra... tri-cera-tops.
- Ceratops.
- Triceratops.
Triceratops, triceratops.
Triceratops
Welcome to the Stratavator.
Now, all of this stuff
used to be trees,
and green leaves and ferns.
Oh, no kidding.
Pittsburgh used to look like
that tropical forest
up in the exhibit hall,
300 million years ago.
I'll show you.
To make one foot of coal,
it takes 20 to 40 feet of dead
logs and leaves and things,
all piled up and then
mashed down real hard,
with a lot of heat for millions
and millions of years.
Here, take it closer look.
See?
You can still see some of
the plants in the coal!
- Oh, wow.
- This is enlarged 800 times.
Those yellow shapes are spores
and grains
of plant resonant cuticle.
The red is wood and bark.
Looks like art, doesn't it?
Well, I guess it kinda is.
- Whoa.
- What is up there?
I don't know,
but I see, like, wings.
It's like a huge dragonfly.
In the beginning,
this place was wild.
A rugged chain of mountains...
Blue Ridges, Cumberlands,
and Alleghenies.
Rare orchids, ferns,
and wild lilies.
Bear, elk, and falcon.
Land tended by the Shawnee,
Haudenosaunee, and Cherokee.
Many others before
and in between.
Waters deep and old.
Waters that
brought in outsiders.
That's when a guy named John
came floating
on a boat he made
out of bison that he killed
along the banks of this river...
Ironically named the New River,
as it's the second
oldest river in the world.
This place is old.
Older than you.
Older than me.
Older than the king.
Then John traveled on foot
until he found himself here.
The Lenape called this river
Walhondecepe.
It was on the smaller river
that John spotted something
dark and powerful.
Coal sitting on the banks.
So he renamed the river
Coal River.
And any dream that river
had dreamt
before that day was lost.
It's a big pothole.
Yeah.
All this coal is huge.
Yeah, but it's not big pieces.
Looks like dust.
- Yeah.
- Black dust.
It starts like this.
So, you go down.
Up.
Scoop.
Here.
You go step.
Back.
And step again.
Then you just turn around
and go up.
Yeah.
Just go up.
And you bring
your hands through.
Then you grab something,
and then you throw it.
Up.
Turn.
- Yay.
- Yay.
Everyone
has their own story here.
For some, the king has provided.
For others, he's stolen.
For some, he's given pride.
For others, he's brought shame.
The land tells the story
of the king, too.
This football field
was once a mountain.
A mountain that became a mine.
A mine where
this piece of coal was cut.
Let's go!
Ladies and gentlemen,
before we begin the third
quarter of tonight's game,
we would like to take a moment
to pause
and honor the real coal
miners who we play for,
each and every night.
With tonight being coal
miner appreciation night,
we would like for all real life
coal miners in the bleachers
to please stand
and wave to the crowd
as we thank and honor you.
You've sacrificed so much
for the Mingo Central
football team
and we are proud to represent
you each and every Friday
night on the football field
as we celebrate
the legacy of coal.
Thank you!
Go Massey!
Go Massey!
I'm the kind of person that
likes to plan out everything
before I do it.
I mean,
I'm not saying it ever works,
I'm just saying I just like to.
I just do it, most of the time.
I'm almost done,
then we can do yours.
What do you wanna do
when you grow up?
Thought about being the FBI.
But I think I wanna be a nurse.
What do you wanna be?
I kind of wanna like
get a scholarship for
dancing to like a college
and then like study law
or get my doctorate,
and then dance at hopefully
New York City Ballet.
Like dance there.
And then,
just when I get too old
to do that,
or when my body just
can't take it anymore,
I'll probably just...
I'll probably just use
my doctorate or law degree
to work someplace.
Yeah.
I've grown up in
the frail days of our king,
but there was a time
when he was strong.
It's the late 1930s.
140,000 people,
White, Black, Native,
and immigrant,
work deep underground
in West Virginia.
My family is among them.
Some miners' families
live in company towns,
shop at company stores
with company currency.
Every day, the millions
of tons of coal we mine
leaves these hills.
We stay here.
The king's men give us seeds
to grow these flowers.
They film this footage...
To show that our soot-covered
lives can be beautiful.
On the Sabbath, we sit in
the shade of the Mingo Oak,
the world's largest white oak.
At 577 years old,
she stands 145 feet tall.
25 feet around.
Her limbs spread 96 feet wide.
But this spring,
her bare branches don't bud.
The king's men say that
a fungus killed her.
The people who gather on her
dying day know otherwise.
She suffocated from the fumes
of a burning coal waste pile.
As the Mingo Oak
hits the ground,
the king's song gets louder.
The beating of the drum.
Coal, coal.
Coal.
As if there is no other
music in the world.
At the end of the day, when
Paw Paw was done digging coal,
he dug graves.
Still does, today.
Yeah. Let's see.
Lorraine. No, that's Miller.
He keeps a record
of where all the bones
are buried.
Growing up, he taught me the
burial rituals of the past.
Rituals to pay respect,
so that ghosts don't get
trapped in this world,
and we don't get trapped
in our grief.
Sometimes I wonder...
if our king's ghost
is trapped here.
We're a haunted people.
We look to the birds.
Someone is
visiting you from heaven.
A bobwhite calls:
he's praying for rain.
A bird flies into your window:
death is coming.
Good evening, everyone!
We'd like to welcome you
to our 28th annual
West Virginia Coal Festival.
Men and women
who go down into the mines
do so in pursuit
of the American dream.
To have a roof over their head,
food on their table,
and hope for their children.
Keep in mind that people
have given their lives,
lost their lives
in the coal industry.
The five we have here today...
Another day, another bird.
The next one is
Timothy Kay Collins.
Under the King's
reign, death stays close.
August 11th.
So we fly like owls
between the worlds.
44 years of age.
January the 14th, 2022.
From Marshall County.
Mr. Steven H. Havley.
52 years of age.
February the 28th, 2022.
McDowell County.
If there are other coal miners
in the attendance
that would like to join
behind these people
who are carrying the crosses,
please feel free to do so.
You are the salt of the earth.
Thank you.
Okay, we got it.
Okay.
Great, now I only have $2 left.
Are there any family
members who want to come up
and have a picture made
with Mr. King Coal?
Oh, no.
Hey. You got this.
I don't think I got it.
That's sad.
Okay.
Two fish.
Thank you.
Okay, so,
I think it's probably dead.
Yeah.
I kinda feel bad for those
small little fish in there.
There's a
whole bucket full of 'em.
- Should we go ride a ride?
- Yeah, let's do...
Whoo!
Oh, Lord.
Oh, this is fun.
"His hands are dirty,
his face is too.
His back is bent over
to see it through.
Hours go by
with no time to spare.
Daddy in the coal mine
with safety and care.
As his shift comes to an end,
he looks at the work
he has done,
and closes his eyes and says,
'Thank you, Lord,
for a safe day.
'Now let's catch our ride
to the top
where our home will be
our next stop.'
And that's my daddy and I'm
a coal miner's daughter."
I did some research and found
out that they used canaries
in the coal mines until 1986,
and I knew background
with coding,
and "Flappy Bird"
was a popular game.
So I put two and two together
and we got "Canary Chaos."
Insurrection?
"Insurrection
in the United States
since the Civil War."
"Miners in
Southern West Virginia
"working in dangerous working
conditions underground
fought for their right
to form a union."
"Battle of
Blair Mountain, 1921."
Ain't got no soul!
Warrior Met Coal...
Ain't got no soul!
- Warrior Met Coal...
- Ain't got no soul!
- Warrior Met Coal...
- Ain't got no soul!
- Warrior Met Coal...
- Ain't got no soul!
- Warrior Met Coal...
- Ain't got no soul!
- Warrior Met Coal...
- Ain't got no soul!
Some historians,
when they record the history
of coal mining back in the '20s,
they say miners were safer
on the front lines
in World War I
than they were in the coal
mines of West Virginia.
They might have been
working 16 hours a day,
seven days a week,
and not make any money
and bring any money home.
This is not taught
in our history books.
This is something that took
place that led, quite frankly,
to organizing not only West
Virginia but across the country.
This was 1921.
By 1935,
the United Mine Workers Union
was the largest union
in in the United States.
From there, we built the
auto workers, we did,
had steel workers,
rubber workers,
textile workers, the CIO,
and the middle class was born.
So, in some ways, this march
led to the middle class,
and if people enjoy vacations,
time off,
healthcare, pensions,
and health and safety laws,
black lung benefits,
it all started right here.
We're gonna be marching
in the footsteps
of 10,000 coal miners.
And this is historic
because it was the largest
armed insurrection in the
history of the United States,
other than the Civil War.
They knew they were gonna
be facing machine guns
on Blair Mountain.
When they got there,
an all-out war started,
but the union didn't die.
And 14 years later,
the CIO was born.
Steel workers, rubber
workers, textile workers,
communication workers,
all owe something
to the people who marched here.
So, today,
we are going to recreate that.
How you doing over there?
Good, good, good.
Granddaddy Buck started
working in the mines
when he was, like, 13 years old.
Paw Paw worked in the mine
for, like, 30-some years.
- Really?
- Mm-hmm.
And Granddaddy Buck
got hurt in the mines.
A piece of slate fell
from the roof,
which is a large piece
of coal, flat coal.
It fell from the roof
and landed on his back.
And he wasn't able to go back
working in the mines
after he rehabbed.
- Really?
- Mm-hmm.
So you know, he...
Did he just retire
from the mines?
He just left the mines.
I mean, he couldn't retire
because he didn't have
enough years.
Didn't have enough months,
let's put it that way.
Because he was, like, six months
from having 20 years,
and at 20 years, you can retire.
And so he just left the mines.
And there was, you know,
no other options for him,
as far as getting a retirement.
There was no one out there
to help him fight for it.
It's sad to say the union
didn't fight for Black miners
like they did white miners.
So that was the difference.
This area were mostly Blacks,
and we all knew each other.
I remember going
blackberry picking.
Grandma Mildred used to make
some of the best
blackberry cobblers
in the world.
The Harrisons had
grape vines in their yards.
And we used to pick grapes,
and Granny Rose used to make
some of the best grape jelly.
Right now, it's just wilderness.
I guess you can't take
my memories from me,
the good memories.
I'm riding along with
people, I say, look at yonder.
Yonder is the most beautiful
scene that I've ever saw.
I see the technicolor
of the mountains.
We wonder how long it'll last.
We wonder how long
we can hold our peace.
We wonder how long we can sit
and look and watch
the greediness of people.
For the almighty dollar
come in and destroy
all things that
was created for man.
They are taking out
the things that God
provided and put forth for us.
They're taking it out, and
they're leaving us nothing.
For over half a century,
Central Appalachian coal has
supported American industry.
1966 alone, almost $900 million
worth of coal was extracted.
But the wealth underground
is rarely reflected
above ground.
Around this time,
the king starts mining
the tops of mountains.
Machines replace men.
There's no jobs back home.
Yeah, you can get a job
as an oil layer,
as a truck driver.
But what it pay?
$20 a week.
Do you think I could feed
my family on $20 a week?
You see, in the economy of
the United States of America,
we stand number 12 in wealth.
The state of West Virginia does.
But all of our natural resources
and our great minerals
is owned by people that
lives in other states.
From 1950 to 1970,
700,000 people leave
the West Virginia hills.
But some stay and weather
the booms and busts.
When a group of people,
a number of people
sticks together,
you can't do nothing with 'em.
Recently, some of
the people here got together
and agreed that they
wanted to raise some money
to help in the community.
This looks like a small
beginning or a small thing,
but for the mountains,
it's awfully important
because the people
decided that no big shot
or no federal government
is really gonna help 'em.
If anything's done, they'll
have to do it themselves.
In order for us to stay,
and for my dad to keep his job,
we moved around the coal fields
seven times in 12 years.
It's what the king demanded.
This is another medicinal plant.
- Can I have it?
- Yeah.
Do you know what
this one's called?
- Do you remember?
- No.
This one's called heal-all.
If you're not feeling good,
you got a tummy ache,
you can make tea and drink it.
If you got a wound,
you can chew it up
and spit it out on your wound,
and it'll help keep it clean
and keep the germs
from causing an infection.
It's kind of good
for everything.
And they're delicious to eat.
They're one of the last
flowers before winter.
Here, sheep,
sheep, sheep, sheep!
Here, sheep, sheep, sheep,
sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep.
Sit.
Sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep!
Sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep.
Sit, Bubba.
Here, sheep, sheep,
sheep, sheep!
Here, sheep, sheep,
sheep, sheep!
Remember it gets caught
in the banks a lot, too.
So, look for it in the banks.
Nice part is
it's a different color
than everything else, huh?
And it's free!
It just comes right outta
the mountains for us.
Here's a little piece
right there.
Is this coal?
Let's see here.
Yes.
Thank you very much.
- You're welcome.
- Yeah, that's it.
Oh.
Man, river running down
the mountains
just sets your energy right.
They call it
the resource curse, you know?
The value of this place,
measured only by the ton.
Sometimes I wonder if we'll
ever break this curse.
These days, we no longer all
believe in the King's powers.
So we look for other ways
we can be proud.
Paw Paw once told me
about a place
forged in the mountains...
Where all stories are kept safe
until the day
when they can be heard again.
There have always been
those of us
who travel,
in and out of the kingdom,
looking for stories
that keep us alive.
Long ago, this region was
defined by our geography.
These mountains.
Then by our geology.
Coal.
We were formed by these things.
And now?
Old King Coal
called for his bowl
Called for his
drummers three
But none of the drummers
The king could
never hold all our dreams.
What dreams will
the Coal River dream?
Mmm. This smells sweet.
Oh, cool.
This is a fun one that...
Who are we, without a king?
Shuffle one, shuffle two,
shuffle three,
shuffle four, and one and two
and three and four.
The king's ghost
will haunt our dreams,
unless we say goodbye.
We look to the old timers
to guide the way.
The burial rituals.
Stop the clocks.
Turn the mirrors.
Open the windows.
Toll the bells.
Build the casket.
The King brought us together.
And together, we say goodbye.
Coal, for those
of us who came up with it,
is intrinsic.
It's one of those things that
once it's in your bloodstream,
subconsciously permeates and
informs the rest of your life.
It becomes the reference point.
You know how brilliantly
blue your daddy's eyes are
because you've seen them
matted and framed
by shutters of coal dust.
For all the language
and stories around it,
coal itself resists both
titles of villain and savior.
It is not dirty or clean.
It is elemental.
And thereby,
innocent of malice or greed,
and reflects only the nature
by which it has been engaged.
I came up knowing I was
born in an extraction state.
First, it was the coal,
the gas, the trees.
And now they've come
to mine the memories.
The moments.
Mine the magic.
Something to keep
the fires burning.
Amen.
I think about the paradox
of pride and remorse.
How my daddy was proud to
do what needed to be done
to work the mines and
provide for our family.
I learned that you can
be proud of your life
and want better for them
that come after you.
I am still learning.
Won't you lay
King Coal down
In the cold, cold ground
Beneath the linden tree
Shake the coal dust cloud
off my funeral shroud
Beneath the linden tree
From my black-baked lungs,
may my spirit be sprung
Beneath the linden tree
King Coal had my body,
but heaven has my soul
Beneath the linden tree
King Coal don't own
any piece of my bones
Beneath the linden tree
Like a good old song,
his ghost is never gone
Beneath the linden tree
Beneath the linden tree
Beneath the linden tree
If you're
hearing this, seeing this,
know
this place knows how to dream.
this program possible.
Support your local PBS station.
Paw Paw always said
that every new beginning
starts with an end.
It's been true for us,
living our lives
here in this place,
a place of mountains and myths.
Some think place
matters less today
in a world where people,
things, thoughts...
move from here to there,
unburdened by geography.
But here,
we know that our bodies are
only ever in one place.
I grew up here.
Four seasons.
Every year.
Maybe you've heard
a story or two about us.
Well, this story is about what
it's like to live under.
Got more food for you.
Coal drop coming up here...
very, very shortly.
So stick around for that.
All right, here we go.
58, 57, 56,
55, 54, 53, 52, 51,
13, 12, 11, 10,
nine, eight, seven, six,
five, four, three, two, one.
Happy New Year!
That thing's hard to turn.
Alex.
That's what we live on top of.
That's the ground.
That's what this town's made of.
Spin it, Alex.
As far back as I can remember,
coal has been leaving this place
on barges, trucks, and trains.
These mountains have
tons and tons of coal.
More than we can ever get to.
West Virginia is a state that
relies heavily on fossil fuels,
natural gas, and coal.
Coal's not even
what it used to be,
but it's still very important.
Coal prices are
very high right now.
Natural gas prices
are very high, so...
and West Virginia is ground zero
in this global struggle,
frankly,
over what the
energy future will be
because of our coal
and natural gases.
We're sitting on some of the
largest natural gas reserves
in the world.
$1.64 is your change,
and you have a very good day.
- You too, thank you.
- Thank you.
I don't remember
the day that I learned
I lived under King Coal.
She won't either.
I remember going on
field trips to the mines.
I remember humming along
to "Coal Miner's Daughter."
Well, I was borned
a coal miner's daughter
Welling up with pride,
feeling Loretta had written it
just for me.
I remember learning
that if I said anything bad
about the King,
I was betraying my loved ones.
That's when I learned
the tension
between loyalty and truth.
I learned...
To be quiet.
I'm still learning.
Coal is ancient,
formed of dead things
that lived long ago.
The King was formed
by our desire for more.
For most,
coal is a dirty polluter,
an unglamorous black rock.
But for those of us
who grew up with it,
coal is intrinsic.
Y'all help me out on this one.
"I was born one morning
when it was drizzling rain."
I was born one morning
when it was drizzling rain.
"I picked up my shovel
and I walked to the mines."
I picked up my shovel
and I walked to the mines.
"I loaded 16 ton
of number nine coal."
I loaded 16 ton
of number nine coal.
"And the straw boss said
'Well, bless my soul.'"
And the straw boss
said "Well, bless my soul."
Saint Peter, don't you call me.
"'Cause I can't go."
'Cause I can't go.
"I owe my soul."
I owe my soul.
"To the company store."
To the company store.
We go down about 600 feet.
You go down, it's got tracks
and metal mantrip cars
you ride in
that takes you
to these sections.
The mines have been
worked on about 70 years.
So it was real, real deep,
but it's real good coal
for making steel.
It's the most dangerous job
in the coal mines,
and it pays top dollar 'cause
you go down at a place,
and there's a place
about as big as this room,
and I was sitting towards
the back of my machine,
and I romped down on it.
I'm gonna go out
and get me a load.
And I romped down on it
and getting ready
to swing out there
to get me a load, and whoo!
A big methane explosion
happened,
and it come right
in front of me.
Man, two more seconds,
and I would have been right
into that thing,
and I hear if a miner gets
caught in a methane explosion,
it'll burn all the skin
off your body.
Eyeballs out of your socket,
and most likely,
you're going to be body parts.
Oh my goodness.
Yes, sir, ma'am?
You're very lucky that
you didn't get killed.
Yes. Yes, ma'am?
Do you miss being a coal miner?
Yes, I do. Yes, sir?
One more question.
- What is that?
- That's coal.
That's what real coal
feels like.
Can I feel it?
Yeah, you can touch it.
Whoa!
It feels like diamonds!
Feel it, yes.
How do you know
what diamonds feel like?
The King owns everything...
the land, the coal...
our hours.
Truth is,
the King isn't alive today,
not like he was.
But he's not dead, either.
I guess you could say
he's a ghost.
Over the years, support
for the king has waned.
So he's found his way
into other parts of our life.
Father, we thank you
for this rich resource
that we celebrate.
Bless West Virginia
and Kentucky,
and God bless
the United States of America.
In Jesus' name,
we pray when we all say...
Amen.
For nearly a century,
we've been told this place
is nothing without a king.
All we ever wanted
was a way to make a livin'.
Well done.
I've got costumes
of like different princesses.
I used to hate
princesses when I was little.
I was convinced that
Minnie Mouse was a princess.
Convinced.
Let's not make more work
for ourselves.
Well, I have an idea.
This can't be
more than three minutes.
I'm very over the top.
So, this is gonna be tricky.
Coking.
It says power generation, smithing.
Cooking coal.
And smithing.
Fertilizer
and steam power generation.
Wait, where do you see that at?
Oh, yeah.
I did not see that.
Percent of...
You own bituminous coal.
Or whatever it's called.
Is coal important
to your family?
I don't know.
Is it to your family?
Yes.
I don't know.
I like this.
I like the sparkly border.
After we glue all this on,
after we glue these two on,
do you just want to
go ahead and put, like,
- coal project or something?
- Yeah.
Bituminous.
Bituminous.
Here's what I found
from thoughtco.com.
The pronunciation of
bituminous is bit-amen
in British-English and
bi-tumen in North America.
Bituminous.
Bituminous, bituminous,
bituminous, bituminous.
Every day, the same song plays.
We dance to the beat
of the king's drum.
Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to the 66th Annual
Bituminous Coal Queen Pageant.
Tonight,
you will see 12 young ladies
representing
their local school district,
all vying for the coveted crown
worn by so many successful
queens before them.
Please welcome
candidate number one.
She would like to dedicate this
dance to all the coal miners
that have lost their lives
in the mines,
and to let them know
we won't forget about them.
We appreciate
all that they've done
and their work
will never go unnoticed.
Ladies and gentlemen,
candidate number one.
It's time to start
remembering dreams
Lift your eyes,
see the things unseen
Remember who you wanna be
Let the light
hit your eyes
Let out the beauty that's
been trapped inside
Let 'em know that
you're not gonna hide
I would encourage
other young ladies
to participate in this
pageant by welcoming them
and their families into
the King Coal Association.
My goal is to share my love
of coal with younger girls
as I would love to be
a leader for them,
as I myself have looked up
to many past coal queens.
We are representing
Southwestern Pennsylvania's
economy,
the community, our history.
I challenge you to go out
and ask your parents
or your grandparents
if anyone in your family
has ever worked in the
coal mining industry.
And if they have, I think
you'll be pleasantly surprised
by some of the stories you hear.
Thank you, candidate number 12.
I come from
three generations of miners.
My brother,
the fourth generation.
Paw Paw used to tell me
about the mines.
How you gotta control
all the elements.
Earth, air.
Fire, water.
All the things
that try to kill you.
Crush, suffocate.
Burn, drown.
He says going underground
is like going to space.
Going somewhere where
you're the first person
to touch that piece of earth.
One day, when I was little,
I tapped my Paw Paw on the back,
and he just about jumped
out of his skin.
He turned around so quick.
Face, white as a ghost.
"Don't sneak up on me."
He said, gently.
I learned that day that most
miners live closer to death.
That they're more like spiders
or birds.
That their bodies are more
attuned to the sounds, smells,
and vibrations
that can kill them.
Those of us
who don't work underground
don't have these magic powers.
There's not many miners
left today.
Fewer than 12,000
in West Virginia.
But the miner's identity
is one that gets embedded
in their bodies and their souls.
Once you break for
15 or 20 minutes or whatever,
and your skin just kinda
starts getting comfortable,
the threshold goes away,
and then it hurts.
I've almost got
the stencil ready,
so we'll be setting up
and tattooing shortly.
So, your dad was a miner too, right?
Yeah.
Was your grandpa a miner too?
My dad's dad started in...
in the '20s.
- Yeah.
- You know.
So I mean, that
was back in the...
That's back when
everybody was a coal miner.
Yeah, 8 to 80.
Blind, crippled, or crazy,
ain't it?
Yeah.
If you can ask for the job,
you got it.
Yeah.
My first day in,
I had a rib fall on me.
Second day in, I spent
the whole shift dragging hoses
out of three feet of water.
And then my third day in,
I seen a roof collapse
as big as the power center.
And I was just like...
it shook me.
- You know?
- And that was it?
And that was it, and I quit.
And then, like, later on,
I got to thinking about it,
I was like, you know, it's...
I don't want to say that
that stuff's common,
but that stuff...
your average
experienced coal miner has
a lot of knowledge about
that stuff, and how to...
you know how to act around it,
you know how to treat it
and handle it and whatnot.
And it doesn't really bother
you as much
'cause you understand
what's going on
and why it happened and stuff.
And I didn't, and I was
scared to death, and I quit.
But I did get to fall asleep
in the coal mines,
and that's an experience
I'll never forget.
- Mark it off the bucket list?
- Yes, it was worth it.
It was so worth it.
I've seen some doozies.
Have you ever been involved in
or seen major mine accidents?
I've known a few.
Yeah.
It's about an
800-plus-foot hole,
20 feet 'round,
and they were cutting
and welding on it.
You know, which he was
cutting at that time,
and some slag fell off.
And when it come down,
it caught a pocket of methane.
And it... the percussion of it
blew out a chain link fence.
But... and then they said that
it melted the glass...
his glasses frame to his...
um, to his face.
Oh, my God.
That creates the kind
of bond that you don't
- just make with any coworker.
- No.
But coal mining,
you go underground
and sacrifice your life.
You sweat and bleed and work.
Oh, yeah. I mean, it's...
- A typical friendship.
- It's family.
And you literally spend more
time at work with them guys
than you do with your family.
- Right.
- Yeah.
It's going to look good.
Yeah.
The fall of the Roman Empire.
I don't know how to say that.
Basilosaurus.
You know what?
We're calling you Bernie.
He's Bernie
and then he's Edward.
Tri-cer-op-a-sis.
Tri-cer-ah-tops.
Tricer-a-tops. I don't know.
Tra... tri-cera-tops.
- Ceratops.
- Triceratops.
Triceratops, triceratops.
Triceratops
Welcome to the Stratavator.
Now, all of this stuff
used to be trees,
and green leaves and ferns.
Oh, no kidding.
Pittsburgh used to look like
that tropical forest
up in the exhibit hall,
300 million years ago.
I'll show you.
To make one foot of coal,
it takes 20 to 40 feet of dead
logs and leaves and things,
all piled up and then
mashed down real hard,
with a lot of heat for millions
and millions of years.
Here, take it closer look.
See?
You can still see some of
the plants in the coal!
- Oh, wow.
- This is enlarged 800 times.
Those yellow shapes are spores
and grains
of plant resonant cuticle.
The red is wood and bark.
Looks like art, doesn't it?
Well, I guess it kinda is.
- Whoa.
- What is up there?
I don't know,
but I see, like, wings.
It's like a huge dragonfly.
In the beginning,
this place was wild.
A rugged chain of mountains...
Blue Ridges, Cumberlands,
and Alleghenies.
Rare orchids, ferns,
and wild lilies.
Bear, elk, and falcon.
Land tended by the Shawnee,
Haudenosaunee, and Cherokee.
Many others before
and in between.
Waters deep and old.
Waters that
brought in outsiders.
That's when a guy named John
came floating
on a boat he made
out of bison that he killed
along the banks of this river...
Ironically named the New River,
as it's the second
oldest river in the world.
This place is old.
Older than you.
Older than me.
Older than the king.
Then John traveled on foot
until he found himself here.
The Lenape called this river
Walhondecepe.
It was on the smaller river
that John spotted something
dark and powerful.
Coal sitting on the banks.
So he renamed the river
Coal River.
And any dream that river
had dreamt
before that day was lost.
It's a big pothole.
Yeah.
All this coal is huge.
Yeah, but it's not big pieces.
Looks like dust.
- Yeah.
- Black dust.
It starts like this.
So, you go down.
Up.
Scoop.
Here.
You go step.
Back.
And step again.
Then you just turn around
and go up.
Yeah.
Just go up.
And you bring
your hands through.
Then you grab something,
and then you throw it.
Up.
Turn.
- Yay.
- Yay.
Everyone
has their own story here.
For some, the king has provided.
For others, he's stolen.
For some, he's given pride.
For others, he's brought shame.
The land tells the story
of the king, too.
This football field
was once a mountain.
A mountain that became a mine.
A mine where
this piece of coal was cut.
Let's go!
Ladies and gentlemen,
before we begin the third
quarter of tonight's game,
we would like to take a moment
to pause
and honor the real coal
miners who we play for,
each and every night.
With tonight being coal
miner appreciation night,
we would like for all real life
coal miners in the bleachers
to please stand
and wave to the crowd
as we thank and honor you.
You've sacrificed so much
for the Mingo Central
football team
and we are proud to represent
you each and every Friday
night on the football field
as we celebrate
the legacy of coal.
Thank you!
Go Massey!
Go Massey!
I'm the kind of person that
likes to plan out everything
before I do it.
I mean,
I'm not saying it ever works,
I'm just saying I just like to.
I just do it, most of the time.
I'm almost done,
then we can do yours.
What do you wanna do
when you grow up?
Thought about being the FBI.
But I think I wanna be a nurse.
What do you wanna be?
I kind of wanna like
get a scholarship for
dancing to like a college
and then like study law
or get my doctorate,
and then dance at hopefully
New York City Ballet.
Like dance there.
And then,
just when I get too old
to do that,
or when my body just
can't take it anymore,
I'll probably just...
I'll probably just use
my doctorate or law degree
to work someplace.
Yeah.
I've grown up in
the frail days of our king,
but there was a time
when he was strong.
It's the late 1930s.
140,000 people,
White, Black, Native,
and immigrant,
work deep underground
in West Virginia.
My family is among them.
Some miners' families
live in company towns,
shop at company stores
with company currency.
Every day, the millions
of tons of coal we mine
leaves these hills.
We stay here.
The king's men give us seeds
to grow these flowers.
They film this footage...
To show that our soot-covered
lives can be beautiful.
On the Sabbath, we sit in
the shade of the Mingo Oak,
the world's largest white oak.
At 577 years old,
she stands 145 feet tall.
25 feet around.
Her limbs spread 96 feet wide.
But this spring,
her bare branches don't bud.
The king's men say that
a fungus killed her.
The people who gather on her
dying day know otherwise.
She suffocated from the fumes
of a burning coal waste pile.
As the Mingo Oak
hits the ground,
the king's song gets louder.
The beating of the drum.
Coal, coal.
Coal.
As if there is no other
music in the world.
At the end of the day, when
Paw Paw was done digging coal,
he dug graves.
Still does, today.
Yeah. Let's see.
Lorraine. No, that's Miller.
He keeps a record
of where all the bones
are buried.
Growing up, he taught me the
burial rituals of the past.
Rituals to pay respect,
so that ghosts don't get
trapped in this world,
and we don't get trapped
in our grief.
Sometimes I wonder...
if our king's ghost
is trapped here.
We're a haunted people.
We look to the birds.
Someone is
visiting you from heaven.
A bobwhite calls:
he's praying for rain.
A bird flies into your window:
death is coming.
Good evening, everyone!
We'd like to welcome you
to our 28th annual
West Virginia Coal Festival.
Men and women
who go down into the mines
do so in pursuit
of the American dream.
To have a roof over their head,
food on their table,
and hope for their children.
Keep in mind that people
have given their lives,
lost their lives
in the coal industry.
The five we have here today...
Another day, another bird.
The next one is
Timothy Kay Collins.
Under the King's
reign, death stays close.
August 11th.
So we fly like owls
between the worlds.
44 years of age.
January the 14th, 2022.
From Marshall County.
Mr. Steven H. Havley.
52 years of age.
February the 28th, 2022.
McDowell County.
If there are other coal miners
in the attendance
that would like to join
behind these people
who are carrying the crosses,
please feel free to do so.
You are the salt of the earth.
Thank you.
Okay, we got it.
Okay.
Great, now I only have $2 left.
Are there any family
members who want to come up
and have a picture made
with Mr. King Coal?
Oh, no.
Hey. You got this.
I don't think I got it.
That's sad.
Okay.
Two fish.
Thank you.
Okay, so,
I think it's probably dead.
Yeah.
I kinda feel bad for those
small little fish in there.
There's a
whole bucket full of 'em.
- Should we go ride a ride?
- Yeah, let's do...
Whoo!
Oh, Lord.
Oh, this is fun.
"His hands are dirty,
his face is too.
His back is bent over
to see it through.
Hours go by
with no time to spare.
Daddy in the coal mine
with safety and care.
As his shift comes to an end,
he looks at the work
he has done,
and closes his eyes and says,
'Thank you, Lord,
for a safe day.
'Now let's catch our ride
to the top
where our home will be
our next stop.'
And that's my daddy and I'm
a coal miner's daughter."
I did some research and found
out that they used canaries
in the coal mines until 1986,
and I knew background
with coding,
and "Flappy Bird"
was a popular game.
So I put two and two together
and we got "Canary Chaos."
Insurrection?
"Insurrection
in the United States
since the Civil War."
"Miners in
Southern West Virginia
"working in dangerous working
conditions underground
fought for their right
to form a union."
"Battle of
Blair Mountain, 1921."
Ain't got no soul!
Warrior Met Coal...
Ain't got no soul!
- Warrior Met Coal...
- Ain't got no soul!
- Warrior Met Coal...
- Ain't got no soul!
- Warrior Met Coal...
- Ain't got no soul!
- Warrior Met Coal...
- Ain't got no soul!
- Warrior Met Coal...
- Ain't got no soul!
Some historians,
when they record the history
of coal mining back in the '20s,
they say miners were safer
on the front lines
in World War I
than they were in the coal
mines of West Virginia.
They might have been
working 16 hours a day,
seven days a week,
and not make any money
and bring any money home.
This is not taught
in our history books.
This is something that took
place that led, quite frankly,
to organizing not only West
Virginia but across the country.
This was 1921.
By 1935,
the United Mine Workers Union
was the largest union
in in the United States.
From there, we built the
auto workers, we did,
had steel workers,
rubber workers,
textile workers, the CIO,
and the middle class was born.
So, in some ways, this march
led to the middle class,
and if people enjoy vacations,
time off,
healthcare, pensions,
and health and safety laws,
black lung benefits,
it all started right here.
We're gonna be marching
in the footsteps
of 10,000 coal miners.
And this is historic
because it was the largest
armed insurrection in the
history of the United States,
other than the Civil War.
They knew they were gonna
be facing machine guns
on Blair Mountain.
When they got there,
an all-out war started,
but the union didn't die.
And 14 years later,
the CIO was born.
Steel workers, rubber
workers, textile workers,
communication workers,
all owe something
to the people who marched here.
So, today,
we are going to recreate that.
How you doing over there?
Good, good, good.
Granddaddy Buck started
working in the mines
when he was, like, 13 years old.
Paw Paw worked in the mine
for, like, 30-some years.
- Really?
- Mm-hmm.
And Granddaddy Buck
got hurt in the mines.
A piece of slate fell
from the roof,
which is a large piece
of coal, flat coal.
It fell from the roof
and landed on his back.
And he wasn't able to go back
working in the mines
after he rehabbed.
- Really?
- Mm-hmm.
So you know, he...
Did he just retire
from the mines?
He just left the mines.
I mean, he couldn't retire
because he didn't have
enough years.
Didn't have enough months,
let's put it that way.
Because he was, like, six months
from having 20 years,
and at 20 years, you can retire.
And so he just left the mines.
And there was, you know,
no other options for him,
as far as getting a retirement.
There was no one out there
to help him fight for it.
It's sad to say the union
didn't fight for Black miners
like they did white miners.
So that was the difference.
This area were mostly Blacks,
and we all knew each other.
I remember going
blackberry picking.
Grandma Mildred used to make
some of the best
blackberry cobblers
in the world.
The Harrisons had
grape vines in their yards.
And we used to pick grapes,
and Granny Rose used to make
some of the best grape jelly.
Right now, it's just wilderness.
I guess you can't take
my memories from me,
the good memories.
I'm riding along with
people, I say, look at yonder.
Yonder is the most beautiful
scene that I've ever saw.
I see the technicolor
of the mountains.
We wonder how long it'll last.
We wonder how long
we can hold our peace.
We wonder how long we can sit
and look and watch
the greediness of people.
For the almighty dollar
come in and destroy
all things that
was created for man.
They are taking out
the things that God
provided and put forth for us.
They're taking it out, and
they're leaving us nothing.
For over half a century,
Central Appalachian coal has
supported American industry.
1966 alone, almost $900 million
worth of coal was extracted.
But the wealth underground
is rarely reflected
above ground.
Around this time,
the king starts mining
the tops of mountains.
Machines replace men.
There's no jobs back home.
Yeah, you can get a job
as an oil layer,
as a truck driver.
But what it pay?
$20 a week.
Do you think I could feed
my family on $20 a week?
You see, in the economy of
the United States of America,
we stand number 12 in wealth.
The state of West Virginia does.
But all of our natural resources
and our great minerals
is owned by people that
lives in other states.
From 1950 to 1970,
700,000 people leave
the West Virginia hills.
But some stay and weather
the booms and busts.
When a group of people,
a number of people
sticks together,
you can't do nothing with 'em.
Recently, some of
the people here got together
and agreed that they
wanted to raise some money
to help in the community.
This looks like a small
beginning or a small thing,
but for the mountains,
it's awfully important
because the people
decided that no big shot
or no federal government
is really gonna help 'em.
If anything's done, they'll
have to do it themselves.
In order for us to stay,
and for my dad to keep his job,
we moved around the coal fields
seven times in 12 years.
It's what the king demanded.
This is another medicinal plant.
- Can I have it?
- Yeah.
Do you know what
this one's called?
- Do you remember?
- No.
This one's called heal-all.
If you're not feeling good,
you got a tummy ache,
you can make tea and drink it.
If you got a wound,
you can chew it up
and spit it out on your wound,
and it'll help keep it clean
and keep the germs
from causing an infection.
It's kind of good
for everything.
And they're delicious to eat.
They're one of the last
flowers before winter.
Here, sheep,
sheep, sheep, sheep!
Here, sheep, sheep, sheep,
sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep.
Sit.
Sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep!
Sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep.
Sit, Bubba.
Here, sheep, sheep,
sheep, sheep!
Here, sheep, sheep,
sheep, sheep!
Remember it gets caught
in the banks a lot, too.
So, look for it in the banks.
Nice part is
it's a different color
than everything else, huh?
And it's free!
It just comes right outta
the mountains for us.
Here's a little piece
right there.
Is this coal?
Let's see here.
Yes.
Thank you very much.
- You're welcome.
- Yeah, that's it.
Oh.
Man, river running down
the mountains
just sets your energy right.
They call it
the resource curse, you know?
The value of this place,
measured only by the ton.
Sometimes I wonder if we'll
ever break this curse.
These days, we no longer all
believe in the King's powers.
So we look for other ways
we can be proud.
Paw Paw once told me
about a place
forged in the mountains...
Where all stories are kept safe
until the day
when they can be heard again.
There have always been
those of us
who travel,
in and out of the kingdom,
looking for stories
that keep us alive.
Long ago, this region was
defined by our geography.
These mountains.
Then by our geology.
Coal.
We were formed by these things.
And now?
Old King Coal
called for his bowl
Called for his
drummers three
But none of the drummers
The king could
never hold all our dreams.
What dreams will
the Coal River dream?
Mmm. This smells sweet.
Oh, cool.
This is a fun one that...
Who are we, without a king?
Shuffle one, shuffle two,
shuffle three,
shuffle four, and one and two
and three and four.
The king's ghost
will haunt our dreams,
unless we say goodbye.
We look to the old timers
to guide the way.
The burial rituals.
Stop the clocks.
Turn the mirrors.
Open the windows.
Toll the bells.
Build the casket.
The King brought us together.
And together, we say goodbye.
Coal, for those
of us who came up with it,
is intrinsic.
It's one of those things that
once it's in your bloodstream,
subconsciously permeates and
informs the rest of your life.
It becomes the reference point.
You know how brilliantly
blue your daddy's eyes are
because you've seen them
matted and framed
by shutters of coal dust.
For all the language
and stories around it,
coal itself resists both
titles of villain and savior.
It is not dirty or clean.
It is elemental.
And thereby,
innocent of malice or greed,
and reflects only the nature
by which it has been engaged.
I came up knowing I was
born in an extraction state.
First, it was the coal,
the gas, the trees.
And now they've come
to mine the memories.
The moments.
Mine the magic.
Something to keep
the fires burning.
Amen.
I think about the paradox
of pride and remorse.
How my daddy was proud to
do what needed to be done
to work the mines and
provide for our family.
I learned that you can
be proud of your life
and want better for them
that come after you.
I am still learning.
Won't you lay
King Coal down
In the cold, cold ground
Beneath the linden tree
Shake the coal dust cloud
off my funeral shroud
Beneath the linden tree
From my black-baked lungs,
may my spirit be sprung
Beneath the linden tree
King Coal had my body,
but heaven has my soul
Beneath the linden tree
King Coal don't own
any piece of my bones
Beneath the linden tree
Like a good old song,
his ghost is never gone
Beneath the linden tree
Beneath the linden tree
Beneath the linden tree
If you're
hearing this, seeing this,
know
this place knows how to dream.