The Rivers

In the afternoon light riding around
Riding my bike all over town
They said on TV that out west right now
The rivers can poison us

And it was hard to believe
Watching it win
Kept coming down and kept coming in
And finally reached where our great cities stand
Now the rivers can poison us

And once more we find out in case we've forgot
Just who is strong here and just who is not
As if we could hand her some route that we'd plot
The rivers can poison us

It lifted the trash
It lifted the gold
And lifted the lives to weak to hold
All swept into some diluvian fold
The rivers can poison us

It's like all that we've done has seeped from the sea
It's been take what you want and leave what you leave
We sure have been pigs since adam and eve
Now the rivers can poison us

And I love the thought of us all being one
But kids in the third grade pack needles and guns
And now we might die if we lie in the sun
And the rivers can poison us

Salt of the earth ebb and the flow
All that we have and more than we know
Laden with garbage from decades ago
The rivers can poison us

Maybe one day the great salty blue
Will swallow us up with all that we knew
And things will start over like they always do
When the rivers can poison us