Nine Winters Deep (version 2)

Intro

Grandfather's saw hung by the door like a rule

Blade humming cold, teeth capped in ice, not steel

Nine winters he cut before I could reach the hook

Now the river is my ledger, and the frost is what I took

Verse 1

Four in the morning, breath like smoke off a gun

River cracked open before the rise of the sun

Sixteen years old, first time my palms touched the saw

Father said cut clean, respect the current's law

Blade bit the surface, pulled a slab thick as a door

Roped it to the sled, dragged it up from the floor

Ice house waiting, sawdust packed to the beam

Sold it by the pound to keep the icebox cold and clean

My hands split open, salt water in the crack

Wrapped them in cloth, kept working, never looked back

Learned the weight of a winter by the ache in my spine

Learned a man earns scars before he earns his time

Watched my father's knuckles swell like knots in a rope

Watched him smile anyway, said the cold's how we cope

Nine winters he gave the river, I gave it nine more

That's eighteen frozen seasons stacked against the door

Chorus

Nine winters deep, and the river still knows my name

Cut through the ice so my family wouldn't feel the same

Scars on my palms like a map to where I've been

Nine winters deep, and I'd cut it all again

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