My Father

My father always promised me
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

My sisters all grew up and went away
To Denver and Cheyenne
Marrying their grown-up dreams
The lilacs and the man

I stayed behind the youngest still
Only danced alone
Hoping, hoping that my father's dreams
Would someday take me home

I live in Paris now
My children dance and dream
Hearing the ways of a miner's life
In words they've never seen

I sail my memories of home
Like boats across the Seine
And watch my father's eyes
Watching the setting sun
Set in my father's eyes again