Energy

Papa,

there he is, 

back row, fourth from the left. 

Flat cap, goggles pushed up on his head,

the only protection against the heat from the furnace that he drove,

heat that could reach 2000 degrees celcius.

This is his melting shop team, 

men from Halfway in Cambuslang. 

Producing the world's steel 

while the coke burns into the air, 

filling their lungs,

entering their blood system,

transmitting carcinogens around their bodies.  

A life devoted to 

my Gran 

my Dad 

our God

his community, 

while the slabs of steel he produced 

sailed in opulence across the Atlantic to New York.

Our energy sources 

are changing.

Let's not send another generation 

into desperate conditions.

Digging deeper mines,

damaging the miners 

and their communities. 

A just transition 

must be acheived. 

In memory of men 

like John Cook and 

his melting team.