The Bedding Plane
Beneath which the quarryman
crawls. Or rather
shimmies on his side
by lamplight, right
arm free to wield the single-bladed
pick (no room
for a backswing). Columns
of ragstone left to support
the ceiling, which, when near collapse,
emits a telltale series of clicks,
the quarryman then retreating but
no faster than
the knocking down of columns
will allow. The broken ceiling,
hauled in barrows to the
surface, they call
Collyweston slate. The clicks?
That part they call talking.