Cappella Sistina

Title

Cappella Sistina

Subject

Coal Mining Exhibit

Description

Bond poem, Horrell photos, Martell background

Creator

David Bond, Beth Martell, Doc Horrell

Source

The Light That Shatters Darkness Exhibit

Publisher

Special Collections Research Center, Morris Library, Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Contributor

Special Collections Research Center, Morris Library, Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Rights

Use Restrictions: To quote in print, or otherwise reproduce in whole or in part in any publication, including on the World Wide Web, any material from this collection, the researcher must obtain permission from (1) the owner of the physical property and (2) the holder of the copyright. Persons wishing to quote from this collection should consult Special Collections Research Center to determine copyright holders for information in this collection. Reproduction of any item must contain the complete citation to the original.

Format

Text, JPG photographs

Language

English

Type

Poetry, photography

Identifier

Exhibit Window #6

Original Format

Two photographs of miners roof bolting

Text

Cappella Sistina

The night Floyd Massie took me underground
into a float-dust chaos and the scattered dice

of coal chunks we swerved to miss, on south to
double-cribbed No. 2 Entry where he worked

as a bolter, I remember the shadows from our
cap lamps discoing on the gray shale roof,

flickering across fossils of ferns and giant horse-
tails, a black mosaic of drowned forest.

Twenty years past and I recall Floyd’s tedious
joke about the dull bits being as sharp as me;

I remember “Too much damned torque!”
And I cannot forget his upcast bearded face,

arms lifted against the falling kettle bottom,
like God trying to separate light from darkness.

Files

The Light That Shatters Darkness #6.jpg

Citation

David Bond, Beth Martell, Doc Horrell, “Cappella Sistina,” SCRC Virtual Museum at Southern Illinois University's Morris Library, accessed March 29, 2024, https://scrcexhibits.omeka.net/items/show/51.

Comments