there is a town where i was born
come the place of company coal
where the people all walk
and the dogs they roam
'til the boredom yellows their years
if the unions don't fight then
surely we'll die
as a mother with four hungry children
and i will be forced
to find work of my own
for the oldest is barely eleven
for the big city wage the companies pay
but there ain't no company here
just the broken down barns
and the dirty old fences
and the gun blast that echoes in my ears
now the old man don't sleep
and the nights run cold
for the stove don't burn as she use to
and as cold as it is the window stands clear
to stare at the whole town outside sleeping
o i swear, o i swear come it this year or next
and if the doors to the mines
they are still closing, my family and me
to the west we are bound
and to leave this poor town to its dying
1997 douglas september / Big Pond Publishing and Production Limited (SOCAN/BMI)
This work by Douglas September is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License
