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poetry They’re Building a Pipeline

In this time of pipeline protests in the Dakotas, poet Carol Denney sings her lyrics of a familiar ecological catastrophe: “they tear through our mountains/they tear through our town/after the damage/they’re nowhere around.”

They’re Building a Pipeline

By Carol Denney

they’re building a pipeline

through the mountains they say

saying it’ll bring jobs here

with much better pay

we really need jobs here

and we need them bad

they sent overseas

all the jobs that we had

we apply for these projects

even jobs that we hate

some crew out of Texas

steps out of the gate

they tear through our mountains

they tear through our town

after the damage

they’re nowhere around

Chorus: we love our mountains

the finest on earth

no one knows better

what mountains are worth

a heart from the mountains

is a heart that is blessed

we love our mountains

we know them best

it’s a war on the mountain

it’s a war on our ways

for a handful of profits

in a handful of days

sometimes it’s a gas line

sometimes it’s crude

the rich they get richer

and we just get used

we know how they see us

and it’s no surprise

we look so small in

the company’s eyes

we look like nothing

that matters to them

one more little town

they can deal a weak hand

Chorus: we love our mountains

the finest on earth

no one knows better

what mountains are worth

a heart from the mountains

is a heart that is blessed

we love our mountains

we know them best

they're building a pipeline

through the mountains they say

though the floods have no pattern

and the goldfinches stay

the winter comes hard

after too early fall

the almanac these days

is no help at all

they say that the pipeline

will help out our town

won’t be any leaks or

spills on the ground

they’re calling it progress

and we understand

they’re calling it progress

all over again

Chorus: we love our mountains

the finest on earth

no one knows better

what mountains are worth

a heart from the mountains

is a heart that is blessed

we love our mountains

we know them best

Carol Denney is an award-winning lyricist, guitarist, fiddler, and concertina player, Fiddlers for Peace founder, curator of the Deep Poetry Project, and editor of the Pepper Spray Times.

www.caroldenney.com

 

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