My Father

My father always promised us

We would live in France

We'd go sailing 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 would 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 colors of my father's dreams

Faded without a sound

And now I live in Paris

My children dance and dream

Hearing the story of a miner's life

In words they've never seen

I sail my memories of home

Like boats across the Seine

And I watch the Paris sun

Set in my father's eyes again

My father always promised us

We would live in France

We'd go sailing on the Seine

And I would learn to dance

La la la la …