Coast of Maine

Lyrics

I set the pots in early morning The work is hard, the air is cold The sea can change without a warning This life can make a young man old I take my catch down to the market I take my wages home each night While up the river sits a fortune In stone and lumber, out of sight I do this work my mother taught me I cannot read but I can sew I make these pieces for the tourists A souvenir before they go The months are short, the needs are many And summer's sales must last the year While up the river sits a fortune Hungry silence lingers here This second home will be their haven They have the means to build their dream I am the one who pours the concrete Who lays each joist and fills each seam But at my home the stairs are open There isn't time or cash to spare While up the river sits a fortune And there's nobody living there The eagles nest beyond the reaches Of city light and human hand They struggle here beside the people Who fish the sea and farm the land But once the eagle nearly vanished From poisoned oceans, soil and rain A human and a bird's returning Surviving on the coast of Maine