These Hands

November 28, 2006

It’s been six full days down here at the mill
Seems there’s eight days to a week in this minin’ town
Overall pockets filled with pebbles from the stockyard
Just to prove something else is weighing me down

I work these hands till they crack like scorched earth
Cause I know I gotta buy feed and new shoes for the girls
A Sunday dress for the missus and put away the rest
Trying to purchase it to give, gonna give em the world

The saw rings with irony each time a board is cut
To be used by others so that their home can be made
While mine begins to splinter apart at the seams
Life and death are balanced on this double-edged blade

Never givin’ up on dreams of a better life
They believe in me and it’s the dressing on my heart
Makes a machine out of this man down to the core
Like my daddy learned from his, always finish what you start