Ridge Line Reward

[Verse 1]
The sweat-soaked shirt clung like lichen to old stone,
My bones felt like fallen timber, aching, deep in the bone.
We’d fought the bramble, cleared the creekbed’s tangled heart,
Watched the prevailing winds tear the mountain mist apart.
From sunup’s first tremor 'til the last light died low,
Every ounce of my sinew, gave all it had to show.

[Chorus]
Oh, that first cold pull, a deep spring to the soul,
Washing the grit clean, making weary spirits whole.
It's the taste of bedrock broken, the triumph in the glass,
A moment earned, a promise that forever's gonna last.

[Verse 2]
Every swing of the axe, a story etched in the loam,
Felt the generations working, guiding my way home.
A hawk circled high, a quiet sentinel in the fading light,
As the last of the sun bled out, conquering the night.
The smell of pine sap, damp earth, and distant woodsmoke's haze,
Settled on the valley, marking the end of our days.

[Bridge]
From sun-up to sundown, pushing past the burning deep,
This valley's taught me lessons that my weary soul will keep.
The kind of tired that anchors, a quiet strength you find,
Leaving all the day's hard labor, and its shadows far behind.

[Outro]
Just a cold amber pour, beneath the starlit sky,
A hard-earned peace, as the wren's last song goes by.