The Shallow Seam

[Verse 1]
The last flat light on the Susquehanna ice
Cuts a figure from the January gray.
He stands at the bank, doesn't think about it twice,
Just watches his own breath get torn away.
The north wind's bite on the back of his neck,
a low groan from the river's frozen spine.

[Chorus]
He taps the surface with a steel-toed boot,
Hears the deep note singing from the root.
A perfect sheet of quiet, solid glass,
Not knowing how long perfect has to last.

[Verse 2]
His jacket collar's turned against the wind,
A smudge of coal dust just below his chin.
Heard his wife this morning, through the kitchen door,
"Don't you track that river slush across my floor."
He's just feeling for the give, the hidden strain,
The pressure building up beneath the plain.

[Chorus]
He taps the surface with a steel-toed boot,
Hears the deep note singing from the root.
A perfect sheet of quiet, solid glass,
Not knowing how long perfect has to last.

[Bridge]
The tympanic hum,
The overburden's run.
The give inside the bone,
A single, hollow tone.

[Outro]
He turns his back and walks into the night.
The river holds his shadow in the light.