The Next Train
The next time you see a sand train roll by
remember the hills and ask yourself why
If we went to the moon and we built the internet
Can’t we have energy AND a clean environment?
Water’s Fate
Out West and back East they’re drilling and cracking
through earth and rock in a way called fracking
Detonations force sand into cracks in the shale
Oil flows, but water’s fate is another sad tale.
Like Mail
Pretend it doesn’t matter
if you kill a bluff
It’s your land, you own it
isn’t that enough?
Cuts made so fast today
are scars left on the future
Bright profit flits away
like mail on your computer
No man is an island
so should we be that free
to do what we want
with our private property?
Common Stuff
A hill is a hump is a lump is a mound
It’s a simple old pile of dirt
If you dig it up or take it down,
there’s nothing much you’re going to hurt
And water is free for the taking
There’s no law that you’d be breaking
take all you like, for the love of Mike
There’s still plenty for wood ducks and pike.
Birds fly through the air with the greatest of ease
And we breath it all day, fresh winds or a breeze
It’s not bought or sold–plenty for all, I’m told
Common stuff, not precious like silver or gold.
So don’t think twice about silly tree huggers
or impractical artists or lovers
Act now while the price is high
Dig it, load it and kiss it goodbye!
Advice for Travelers
There’s a place in Wisconsin
not too far from here
Post office and a couple of bars
cheese curds and five kinds of beer
Generally, folks are friendly
if you need a hand
But things can quickly get ugly
If you talk about sand.
Big companies from out of state
came here a few years ago
Quietly bought up tracts of land
greased a few palms, spread some dough
Now mines are sprouting everywhere
and eighteen wheelers rule the roads
they’re hauling sand day and night
they’ve hit the mother lode
The money trickles down, they say
seven times for every dollar
Just look around and you’ll see
good jobs, honest work, blue collar
But not everyone appreciates
the change that’s taking place
Some don’t like a busy mine
where there was just empty space
There’s silica dust in the air
and wells are going bad
If you did not sell your farm
you’ll definitely wish you had
So if you’re in backwoods Wisconsin
way out in the sticks
Talk about football, weather or fishing
but don’t mention frac sand or politics.
The Moon
After all the sand trains
have left this little town
When the speculators go
and the dust has settled down
What’s left for us to live with
except those gaping holes?
A company town without a company
knocked off-kilter for short-term corporate goals
The paychecks came from New York
or someplace far away
And when sand prices bottomed out
jobs dried up, almost the same day
Now we’re left with our questions
and a landscape that looks like the moon
Frac sand economics
boom, boom, BOOM!
Henry Was Here
When Henry D Thoreau
visited my hometown in 1861
he got off the boat and asked some folks
“where can I go to have some fun?”
A stevedore looked at him
and said with a wink,
“There’s a tavern down on Main street,
if you’d like company and a good stiff drink”
But H.D. wasn’t into that
so he shook his head and flashed a smile,
“Thank you, sir for that suggestion,
but I think I’ll just walk for awhile”
He ambled down the avenue
and up a great big hill
On top he sat and pondered
a view enjoyed by many still
Since Henry paid his visit
more have followed in his wake
Multitudes of tourists intent on seeing
the bluffs, the river and the lake
They rent rooms, eat meals, go shopping
spreading cash where’er they go
They come to see our countryside
just like Henry David Thoreau
So, before you get all excited
about selling bluffs just for the sand
Consider the profitable business of tourism
don’t let your mining schemes get out of hand.
The Answer is Cancer
Silica is so common
it’s everywhere, like dirt
–in rocks and toothpaste–
So how could sand dust hurt?
When you crack a grain of sand
it gets radical and free
Fractured silica dust contains
a dangerous bit of energy
The same thing that can kill you
can also be benign
It’s just a matter of circumstance,
the size of the dose, and time.
