The Unseen Tears of a Young Cobalt Miner

• This poem is part one in a two part blog post I’m doing on the Cobalt mining situation in the Congo. I hope this post will beseech to look into this unfair and inhumane situation that the Congolese have to endure daily. Leave a like if you enjoyed the post and give the page a follow so you can stay up to date with my future posts. FYI, my next post will be a long form blog post on this topic so following the page will give you instant access when I drop it. If you’d like to chime in, let me your thoughts in the comments. I am because we are, that’s Ubuntu. As always, peace and keep it real.

The scorching morning sun beats down on me

As I’m forced to toil away cobalt

Its dust coats my lungs and impairs my vision 

And even if my sight isn’t 20/20

I can still see what I’m doing isn’t right 

For my growth 

I’m merely a young boy

Yet, the rest of the world depends on my labor 

I’m not doing you any favors being a victim of this painful drudgery

I extract illuminating rocks in the darkness of each day 

But you wouldn’t know that 

As you charge and scroll through your phone

And start your electric vehicle  

The labor and heat make my back ache 

I’m bound to this place

After every shift 

Everything I eat has a metallic aftertaste

The mines are a relentless force of pain 

I know it’s a unjust fate 

But I must be courageous and stifle my cries 

And dig evermore 

Despite the injustice of it all 

I keep my head up 

I have a chance for an education 

My key out of this living hell 

So I can strive for a life beyond this dirt cell  

With knowledge, I can bring about change 

However, the ones before me who spoke out were slain

But I’m sick and tired of being afraid 

This afternoon, I saw a woman die a million times 

Because she couldn’t bury her husband and son

A bribe was given so his burial could commence

She stood there hysterical, terrified to leave their grave site

Her tears were like serrated knives to my eyes 

It hurts to blink

Foreign filmmakers do their best for the world to take heed 

To something extremely serious 

So the world will no longer be oblivious