Intro
Dock at four a.m., before the gulls come in
Rope freeze in your hands like a covenant with sin
Grandfather's knife still rust on the post where he bled
I keep it sharp for the weight that he left unsaid
Verse 1
Nets don't mend themselves, neither do the men
Father took the boat out, didn't come back in
Mother worked the fish plant, twelve-hour shifts, calloused palms
Taught me how to wait for nothing, how to hold a calm
Brother left at sixteen, said the sea was just a gate
Got a letter from some city, postmark wouldn't state
I was nine when I first learned that leaving looks like choice
Stayed behind and learned my family's only voice
Sunrise on the wharf, ice cracks like a lock
Nets pile high as tombs, smell of salt and stock
Learned to read the water like my grandfather's scars
Each one told a story 'bout the cost of getting far
Sister trades her wages for the rent on Maple Street
I trade my daylight for the boats that never sleep
Winter's coming early, nets are thinner every year
But I stay on the dock 'cause legend's born from here
Chorus
Wolves at the wharf, patience is a blade
They come for the weak but I don't break
Wolves at the wharf, patience is a blade
They come for the weak but I don't break
Verse 2
Dealer came down Tuesday with a handful of fast cash
Said I'd make more money if I ditched the daily gash
Told him that the wharf don't pay in speed, it pays in time
Told him that my family tree's carved into this brine
Uncle lost his station to a man who bought the pier
Now he drinks in darkness, says he sees my grandfather here
I was seventeen when greed wore my neighbor's face
Learned that fortune's closer when you own a smaller space
Nets come up empty, quotas come up short
But the men who leave the wharf don't know their way back to port
Frost collects like ash on every rope I hold
Breath turns into vapor, body turns to cold
Captain says the season's done, we pulling up the fleet
But I know the wolves return when hunger meets the street
So I stay in the cold with the ledger that I keep
Count the ones who stayed alive, count the ones who sleep
Chorus
Wolves at the wharf, patience is a blade
They come for the weak but I don't break
Wolves at the wharf, patience is a blade
They come for the weak but I don't break
Verse 3
Twenty years of daylight, hands like driftwood now
Still remember what the captain taught me—how
Legend isn't built on leaving, ain't constructed on escape
It's the ones who hold the post when everything looks fake
My son asks me why I stay in a place that doesn't pay
I show him grandfather's knife, say some debts you can't betray
Show him how the wood remembers every man who came before
Show him how the wharf becomes a temple and a door
Brother finally called last week from somewhere down south
Said he's made a fortune, got a house, a spouse, a route
Asked me why I'm still here, wasting daylight on the pier
I said the wolves still come to feed, and somebody's got to steer
