At the strike of the noon
bell he pops out of the shaft
like a pea shot from the muzzle of a bazooka.
He plods on iron spiked boots
to stretch limbs cia coir-mattress bed in the compound,
With gnarled hand
Daubed with gold tinted ochre
to wash a face
and armpits mould with sweat of pushing a cocopan
down the rails intc the ore-crushing mill..
He shakes a plastic skal in a noisy beerhall
and gulps down the beer
and strikes his chest
a victor over a day's work:
'Hurray I'm the braw- A
nd you're the brai."
coir mattress: unsprung mattress stuffed with coconut fibre.
cocopan: small veh cle for transporting ore and debris
skal: large drin ing vessel
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