Assoc for Scottish Literature<p>In the blunted night of the coal shed,<br>without a torch, my fingers dig<br>among the coal for the coal.<br>Hear it scutter into the bucket…</p><p>—Brian McCabe, “Coal”<br>published in BODY PARTS, <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://bookish.community/@canongatebooks" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>canongatebooks</span></a></span> 1999</p><p>The 1984–85 UK miners’ strike was officially called off 40 years ago <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/OTD" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>OTD</span></a>, 3 March, 1985. It remains the longest-running strike in British history without a positive outcome.</p><p><a href="https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/coal/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/p</span><span class="invisible">oem/coal/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Scottish" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Scottish</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/literature" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>literature</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/poem" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>poem</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/poetry" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>poetry</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/mining" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mining</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/coalmining" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>coalmining</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/minersstrike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>minersstrike</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/workingclasshistory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>workingclasshistory</span></a></p>