Driftwood ’58

For 4 days in July, 60 years ago today
When the deluge from the gates, past all life under wake
The times they are a changin’, Inundation Day
Life’s a rearrangin’, our livelihoods been spayed

Nine towns sunk and lost, where lonely gulls can glide across
Tomorrow but at what cost, memories of men on hearts embossed
These sinking feelings

Driftwood dead and beached as the waves recede
Atwood fills another novel as her pen bleeds

So tell me how far did you travel, was your journey long
What kind of life did you leave behind, before this great swan song
Driftwood at the waterline, dried moss, seaweed, crumbled time
And the warm sun on my nape, brings a newborn landscape

And the king’s highway rambles, a surfacing serpentine
Glimpses of the past rise up, and their secrets in between

Expropriation notice, lying on the table
Gotta get moving if we’re willing and you’re able
Lumbering giants on their trailers, slack jaws and wide-eyed neighbours
Now the town is on the move and there’s nothing left to prove

Come on now kids get in the car, we’re not going very far
We’ll read about this later in the news, and say goodbye to Santa Cruz
Drop those memories and those dishes, just leave them all behind
Under pressure, leave those treasures for the divers left to find

Driftwood dead and beached as the waves recede
Atwood pens another novel as her heart bleeds

So tell me how far did you travel, was your journey long
What kind of life did you leave behind, before this great swan song
Driftwood at the waterline, dried moss, seaweed, crumbled time
And the warm sun on my nape, brings a newborn landscape