two grey things
on the lip
of a great black sea

flea-festering
frenzied
pale rag of a dog
tearing flesh
finding soot
scratching
frantic
wavering whisper
over a wash of
coal

and the woman
carbon copy of
her soot sisters
mover of minerals
sorter of soil heaps
fueller of furnaces
fuelled by dubious
promise of shilling
shimmering
dangling doubtful
dragging the slack**
down the tracks

an encounter
of chance
wammel*** and
wench
wandering
Clinker Country****

***
Footnotes 
* "Pit bonk wench" is Black Country dialect for a woman who worked moving waste coal on colliery pit banks
** "slack" is a type of coal ideal for stoves and furnaces
​*** "wammel" is Black Country slang for "dog"
​**** "Clinker" is waste coal
Mary Senier is a 26-year-old psychology graduate from the Black Country, England's coal-stained core. Her work often centres around ideas of place, identity, and disability. Previously, she has had two poems published by Abergavenny Small Press. Her work will also be featured in upcoming issues of Opia Magazine, Re-Side Magazine, and The Alchemy Spoon.
header: Bence Ball-Schottner via Unsplash