Wolves at the Ferry (version 2)

Intro

Grandpa ran the crossing before the bridge went up

Kept a lantern lit while the river tried to cut

Said the water don't forgive you, only tolerates your nerve

And the wolves along the bank just wait to see who swerves

Verse

Winter of forty-nine, the ice was thin as paper

He'd test it with a pole before he let the neighbor

Cross with his cattle, cross with his debt in a sack

Told him pay on the far side, ain't no refund coming back

Wolves came down at dusk, they smelled the fear in the herd

Circled the landing, patient, never said a word

Grandpa kept the rope taut, kept his voice low and slow

Said panic sinks a boat faster than the undertow

Learned that from his hands, rope burn deep in the palm

Calluses like scripture, kept the crossing calm

Some men couldn't pay, he ferried them for free

Said a debt to the river's steeper than a debt to me

Buried three that didn't make it, marked the graves with stone

Carved no names, just crossings, let the water own

What it took that season, kept the rest alive

Taught me before he died how the calm ones survive

Hook

Wolves at the ferry, circling the toll

I keep the water steady, keep my hands from turning cold

Not everybody crosses, some feed the riverbank

Wolves at the ferry, but the calm ones always land

Verse

Now I run a different landing, corner turned to shore

Same wolves in new jackets, same toll at every door

Kid came to me shaking, said the debt's already due

Told him pay it forward, that's the only fare that's true

I don't sell no hope in gold, I sell a steady hand

Taught him read the current before he try to stand

Lost one to the undertow, phone rang at three a.m.

Learned that grief's a river too, you float or you condemn

Yourself to drowning with him, I chose to keep the pole

Kept ferrying the others, kept the lantern's glow

Some nights the ice looks solid till you hear it start to crack

I