This is a sad family legacy. I am glad the subject of the poem managed to break away from it. It reminds me of the generations of men women and children that were tied to mining, and other deadly occupations because they had no choice. This poem may be about a miner's legacy but I feel the other legacies of the working poor held in near slavery by the wealthy men that didn't pay them a living wage. It also cries the legacies of those that were literal slaves because of other greedy men. People should remember that you go far enough back down the roots of anyone's family tree there are ancestors who were treated badly, like property. Black, White, Yellow, Red, Purple any color you want to pick Mankind has rarely been kind to each other.