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 sister's all grew up and went away To Denver and Cheyenne Marrying their grownup 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