Diwrnod Cenedlaethol Barddoniaeth 2009 yn Big Pit

Ar Ddiwrnod Cenedlaethol Barddoniaeth ym mis Hydref 2009 roedd bardd preswyl Big Pit, Mike Jenkins, yn annog ymwelwyr i gyfrannu at Gerdd Big Pit. Thema Diwrnod Cenedlaethol Barddoniaeth oedd arwyr ac arwresau. Ysgrifennodd y cyfranwyr am y bobl arwrol a fu'n gweithio'n galed yn y pyllau glo.

Cyfrannodd tair ysgol: Ysgol Gynradd Goetre ym Merthyr Tudful, Ysgol Gynradd Heol y Frenhines yn Abertyleri ac Ysgol Uwchradd Oldbury Wells yn Swydd Amwythig. Rhoddodd Mike gopi llofnodedig o'i lyfr o gerddi i blant Poems for Underage Thinkers i'r dosbarthiadau iau am eu hymdrechion gwiw.

Dyma'r oedolion a fu'n barddoni:

Mike Tanner o Flaenafon, Justin Hamilton o Kilbirnie, Derek Edmondson o Woodford, Mr a Mrs Gilbert o Little Witcombe a staff Big Pit.

Am fwy o wybodaeth am farddoniaeth a rhyddiaith arobryn Mike ewch i www.mikejenkins.net.

BIG BIG PIT POEM
A communal poem created at Big Pit on National Poetry Day 2009

Underground what will we see?
Underground is dangerous
Ponies hauled dram after dram 
Thrusters and hurriers pushing tram after tram 
Pickers hitting as hard as they can 
Children crying and crying.
The canary was a warning.
Lots of water on the ground
It was leaking into the pit 
Getting deeper and deeper.
It was dark like night when the lights went out,
It was scary. Slippery like water.
The cage went fast then slow. 
Down the pit there were tracks.
Struggling by the light of lamps. 
The axes and sledgehammers were dirty as muddy water.
Some were very old.

The men were heroes because they worked twelve hard hours.
The fireman who risked himself to save his workmate’s face,
After a fall, threw himself down to protect his friend.
The horses were heroes because they saved people.
Masks protected the ponies’ faces, some of the ponies died.
Seventy two worked down the mine.
Many of them became blind.
The miner had to pull the drams. 
The girls were heroines because they helped.
Dad and son worked side by side 
Deprived of sunlight from day to day.
Some men died.
Some men cried. 
Coughing up black dust 
Working like navvies from dawn till dusk.
Mothers sad when there was an explosion.
A message home when there’s no hope left
Scratched into a bottle.
Day and night death always occurred.

But everyone pulled together
Washing away the day’s toil. 
A hot bath, joke and a laugh.
To the hole in the wall, have a fag
Desperate for that first drag.

Figures hunched against the driving rain
Thirsting for the hoppy nectar 
To soothe away the pain.