A sad day

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, November 25th, 2010 - 10 comments
Categories: Mining - Tags:

It’s an incredibly sad day for NZ. Today the country mourns for the 29 miners who have lost their lives after a second explosion at the Pike River mine. Our thoughts are now with the families, the communities, and the people of the Coast. The Standard will keep its half mast headlined all day today. Anyone wishing to donate to help the families of the miners, the details are here.

10 comments on “A sad day ”

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  1. Inventory2 1
    25 November 2010 at 11:01 am

    Well said Michael. . Keeping Stock also has the half-mast theme today. Blogging seems completely and utterly vacuous right now.

    We will also be supporting the donation to the Grey District Mayoral Fund, and our business will donating a percentage of revenue over the next fortnight. We hope that other businesses might be in a position to do likewise.

  2. higherstandard 2
    25 November 2010 at 12:44 pm

    Well said Michael, a day for quiet reflection and thoughts for the miners, their families and loved ones and the wider West Coast community.

  3. climate justice 3
    25 November 2010 at 2:07 pm

    Do not think of them in the dark.
    Remember them in the light.
    For these were New Zealand boys,
    Born to sunlight and the Tasman’s thunder.

    Do not think of the ancient trees
    Pressed black in the earth’s embrace,
    Whose richness these miners carved
    Out of the mountain’s chest.

    Remember them, instead, among green hills
    Under a fleeting sun.
    Rummaging in the fern with dog and gun
    For the wild pig and the running deer.

    Do not think of the tears.
    The rictus of disbelief.
    Of ragged breaths indrawn
    Over jagged reefs of pain.

    Remember, though the heart cracks,
    Their laughter and fierce joy
    At discovering along this smoky coast
    First kisses, proud promises, wedding days.

    Do not think this is the end.
    That Death and Darkness
    In the deep confer and grimly
    Draw a line beneath our Twenty-Nine.

    Though it took their lives,
    Think of the coal they hewed
    Burning white hot
    In the world’s furnaces.

    Think of the bright steel
    Their labour forged.
    Lift your faces to the sun
    And know the quality of our loss.

    Chris Trotter http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2010/11/pike-river-241110.html

  4. Carol 4
    25 November 2010 at 6:05 pm

    I have been sad since yesterday afternoon. It is such a heavy toll for these working people and people they are/were close to. But even the TV3 news has started by asking political questions, AND by focusing on the boss’s and mine company’s perspectives.

  5. Tanz 5
    25 November 2010 at 9:40 pm

    Well done to John Key, it can’t be easy for him right now, and he looks very tired. Sometimes being the PM must be really hard. A sad day, words are not enough. National are shining through though, I think its right Parliament was suspended for the day, as a mark of respect to the twenty nine men and their families.

  6. Robert Atack 6
    26 November 2010 at 7:09 am

    Half mast? – is when the flag is about 1 meter from the top of the pole …. but I guess for the uninformed it is the thought that counts.

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