My Father

My father always promised us that we would live in France
We'd go boating on the Seine and I would learn to dance
We lived in Ohio then, he worked in the mines
On his dreams like boats, we knew we'd sail in time

All my sisters soon were gone to Denver and Cheyenne
Marrying their grownup dreams, the lilacs and the man
I stayed behind the youngest still, only danced alone
The colours of my father's dreams faded without a sound

And I live in Paris now, my children dance and dream
Hearing the words of a liner's life in words they've never seen
I sail my memories of home like boats across the Seine
And watch the Paris sun as it sets in my father's eyes again