“Miners,” by Zdenka Višković Vukić, contributed by Dino Perusko (2025)
The town of Labin, Croatia, where I am from, has a long history of coal mining. The mining industry shaped the town's identity in the 20th century, with the majority of the town’s population working in the mines. Although it was a hard and dangerous profession, in a poor area with infertile land mining was the only escape from poverty. This meant that people lived in constant fear, anticipating loss as they never knew, when their husbands, sons, or fathers went down into the mines, if they were ever going to come back alive. It is estimated that more than 700 people died in mining disasters, some of whose bodies were never recovered from the mine.
I chose this poem because I think it perfectly captures this uncertain existence, anticipated loss, and the initial response to death. The poem shifts from describing the mines below to describing domestic life above. The danger and the sweetness of this type of life. But, most importantly, it powerfully depicts the loss of a child. From his father’s first-hand perspective in the mine, and his mother’s second-hand notice of her son’s death. In only a few verses and two stanzas, the poet perfectly captures the initial stages of grief: denial, bargaining, and anguish.