Liber Plutonis - Chapter 38

Verses

Verse 42

The old Greeks called the underworld lord the Rich One. Miners understand the joke better than priests.

Verse 43

Everything expensive begins dirty.

Verse 44

Copper comes out stained, coal comes out black, gold comes out mixed with what investors prefer not to photograph.

Verse 45

The earth hides wealth because geology has no marketing department.

Verse 46

We descended before dawn and returned after sunset, which made the mine a practical underworld without mythology.

Verse 47

Every shaft had rules written by men above and realities written by rock below.

Verse 48

Rock wins appeals.

Verse 49

You learn quickly that the ground does not hate you. Hatred would be a kind of attention.

Verse 50

A cave-in is not judgment. It is mass, fracture, timing, and bad luck meeting a human body.

Verse 51

Still, men made gods below because indifference is emotionally expensive.

Verse 52

Owners spoke of reserves. We spoke of knees, lungs, cables, and the sound a roof makes before choosing a direction.

Verse 53

Hidden wealth is never merely hidden. Someone is usually sent down to fetch it.

Verse 54

Plutocracy means the treasure reaches the surface while the cost tries not to.

Verse 55

When I die, put no gold in my coffin.

Verse 56

I have spent enough of my life carrying the underworld upward.

Verse 57

Give the coins to whoever is still paying rent.