DRAGLINES

(by Deborah Silverstein)

	Draglines at my heart 
	they're tearing us apart
	And the mountainside where we were born
	Must I weep and mourn for the land
	that took ten million years to form
	Now all my eyes can see are just 
	the bleeding scars across the mountainside
	Across the mountainside

Coalport, PA, 
just a little town 
tucked too far away
for anyone to know
But the folks born and raised
for six generations
Working day by day
Trying to keep themselves a home

	Draglines at my heart ...
	
Our neighbors down the road
They farmed twelve acres
worked a heavy load
poor as dirt though they tried
till the coal company came through
Said "we'll mine your land
Take the burden off of you
and we'll see that you get by"

	Draglines at my heart ...

First they tore down their home
Where their grandma
and all the kids were born
They just brushed it all aside
Then came the big machines
ripped up the trees
and muddied all the streams
while the family stood and cried

	Draglines at my heart 
	they're tearing us apart
	And the mountainside where we were born
	oh take warning that 
	the storm clouds will come
	and block out the sun
	that's shining on the folks who seek 
	their fortunes off the families who have died
	trying to survive
	across the mountainside

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