Lamping the Flame
Poems of Yesteryear and Today
by Andrew Farmer

"With limbs conditioned to discomfort,
And to body contortions needed
To work fast in kneehigh seams,
Even when above ground they'd squat
Instinctively on haunches to chat,
A convivial huddle of hunkered energy
Not unlike the compaction in coal itself."

From the poem 'Hard Men'

"Born in 1914, raised in a mining village, and a miner myself for 34 years, I well remember how things once were. Drew Farmer's poems tell it true and they'll long outlive me."

David Gillan
Bowhill and Cardenden

Fife's rich coal mining heritage, both above and below ground, is evocatively set against a backdrop of life in and around the village of Kinglassie. This blend of past and present, of the nostalgic with the contemporary, takes poetry into new realms of human experience.

ISBN 0-9527254-0-2

Published by Andrew Farmer,
50 Norman Drive,
Old Catton, Norwich,
NR6 7HN

Email: thames@mailbox.co.uk