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"Valley Green."

The valleys were green

And the twin rivers clean

In a place called Rhondda

Many years ago.

From Maerdy in the West,

To Blaenrhondda in the East

And down to Porth,

Gateway of the Rhondda,

That's all that could be seen

Was a sea of green.

It was an ecologist's dream.

A little girl wrote that

In a place called Rhondda

Many years ago,

A squirrel could go

From Maerdy to Porth

Without touching the floor,

But that was so long ago

In a place called Rhondda.

Then Mr. Coffin came

To survey the green.

Profit was his scheme,

Coal was his dream

And Death became Queen

In a place called Rhondda

Many years ago.

Death came to the valley floor

And the trees were no more,

As coal pits took their place

And men and boys attacked the "face"

In the never ending race

To line the pockets of the not so poor,

In a place called Rhondda

Many years ago.

The twin rivers gleamed

And were so clean

In a place called Rhondda

Many years ago.

But then they darkened

With coal dust,

As rain flowed from the black tips

That looked as if from Hell they were thrust.

Every mile up the valley floor

From Porth to Blaen'

And Maerdy too.

A shaft was sunk

To search for a "seam",

And "Rhondda No 3"

Became an answer to Mr. Coffins dream,

In a place called Rhondda

Many years ago.

The Rhondda changed from pastoral green

As industrial schemes became the theme.

Because, you see, Coffins coal,

Once acclaimed with loud voice,

Soon became not the fuel of choice,

And oil was used to fire,

And miners were not for hire

In a place called Rhondda

Many years ago.

The valleys are green again

In a place called Rhondda,

But not by much,

As green gives way to developers greed

And inch by inch the land recedes

For parking lots and shopping malls.

There is a little green again,

But there is not much room for oak or fir,

Because all you can see are cars that whir

By so fast,

You wonder how long it could last

Before the valleys would be green no more,

In a place called Rhondda,

Not many years to go.

Learn more about this author, Denis Scott.
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