Who are the Haarlem miners?
Who are they?
Spadefuls of diamonds—blackened boots—sneezing soot.
How tall the mountain?
How many stories?
Sir, I’ve only worked this one corner—
I’ve been hacking away a year, or more,
who knows? By this point, I’d have known every pore
if I wasn’t always hacking off the face,
pounds and pounds every day,
inexhaustible face.
-2003
