On the north Wales shore a fat rock serpent
coils out to sea clasping copper tightly
within as a Dragon clasps gold
Deep in his gut lie human bones
children who delved into the dark
hunting the shine with hard flint
In tunnels too small for adults
troglodyte children crawled and twisted
lived and died alone in darkness
Bats explode from a cave entrance
sprawling tourists like scattered chaff
the dead come for their vengeance
three thousand years they have lain here
the daylight is theirs at last
Copyright © 2021 Kim Whysall-Hammond
The Cheesesellers Wife 
So child abuse has been with us for millennia ! The human race has obviously had a dark side for a very long time.
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Yes, probably. But their society was very different to ours. People are considered adults much earlier in a society where average life expectancy is less than 30. Also maybe mining for metal was considered a religious or special act. We shall never know.
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Yes. Expectation of a much shorter lifespan would certainly affect one’s perspective on life.
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I nicely original take on Halloween
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Thanks Derrick!
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That’s such a vivid poem Kim – made me stop and think about things.
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Thank you John.
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Wow, everything from the photo to the information in the poem is riveting. I didnt know about this. Very cool to learn something new from a poem.
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I’m a bit of a prehistory nerd!
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Cave-burials in the Mesolithic saw deposition of bones in deep places, often down oubliettes along with the remains of animals; across the bay at Little Orme there is such a cave. But of course children could have been used in harvesting copper, it was such a prized metal in the Bronze Age The explosion of bats carrying the souls of those children is a shrieking image.
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The archeological evidence shows tunnels in Great Orme that lead to copper ore deposits and that are too small for adults. Similar tunnels exist in earlier flint mines.
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That formation is indeed eerily reminiscent of a coiled serpent with its head outstretched. I too love prehistory and its legacy in our subconscious and our DNA, and here you bring it to life, even bring it back to make its mark on the present, with the souls of the dead and flawless skill. A fascinating write, and I loved it. Happy All Hallows to you!
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Thanks, that is much appreciated
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What a haunting and really rather tragic tale!
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Yes indeed!
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I saw a film recently where a child was sent into a tunnel in a cave too small for adults to enter to retrieve some ore. This was not set in a time that long ago–maybe the 1800s? They should haunt us. (K)
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My grandfather worked down a mine at the age of twelve, in 1921!
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It probably still happening somewhere.
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Sadly, yes
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