Soapbox

The Water is Wide

Oh the water is gray, and I must not drink;
Arsenic and ash flowing into my sink
Watch Mercury rise- not in the sky
And they just excuse and they justify.

Now the water is orange, but they say that's fine
For the permit says they're within the line
But water don't stay: it runs deep and far
And they just drive away in their fancy car.

Then the governor spoke- and he said "Don't fear!
We'll investigate what has happened here"
But his pockets are full and the circle is drawn
And you can't get back what's dead and gone.

We must feed our kids and wash our hair
With a coal ash soup and  whispered prayer
And they get rich, and we die young
Cause lives don't count on the bottom rung.

They pump it away and consider it gone
But the toxic flume goes on and on
And the poison flows on to the bright blue sea
And the lead runs deep and the fish can't breathe.

They speak of jobs and of progress too
While our bean plants grow from a coal ash stew
And its hard to work when your skin peels red
And the water burns and the river is dead.