[Instrumental]SLACK WATER [Verse 1] The whistle cuts the yard in half. Diesel cools in the tanks. Diesel wakes in the tanks. A thermos passes glove to glove. Rivets stay put in the girder. Rust does not punch a clock. Rust runs its own slow payroll. Silt draws a brown ring on the hull at the old high mark. [Chorus] Slack water does not argue. The current pauses. The current starts again. Boots change on the grate. The river does not clock out. Slack water. Slack water. [Verse 2] Piling takes the brine and does not complain. A hawser drags on the bollard. The barge leans and the piling takes the shock. Gauges jump near the boiler. Valves click. Soot blacks the visor. The punch-clock by the gate stamps the card wet. God is scratched on a locker. God is stamped on a hardhat nobody bothers to wipe. [Chorus] Slack water does not argue. The current pauses. The current starts again. Boots change on the grate. The river does not clock out. Slack water. Slack water. [Verse 3] Shit, the concrete remembers the pour better than the crew remembers the year. Rebar lies in the slab and does not stir. Thaw loosens the joint. Cold tightens it. Damn the slogan that steel is clean. Corrosion does not ask permission. Corrosion shows up and eats the bolt. [Chorus] Slack water does not argue. The current pauses. The current starts again. Boots change on the grate. The river does not clock out. Slack water. Slack water. [Verse 4] Foghorn hits the channel. The channel takes it. Kelp drags the hull. Scale crusts the plates. Winch and capstan do the lift. Nobody claps. Pallets stay in the rain and pick up water. Overtime smells of copper and wet wool. Oil smears the clipboard. The numbers smear with it. The tide does not join a union. The tide still covers the steps. [Chorus] Slack water does not argue. The current pauses. The current starts again. Boots change on the grate. The river does not clock out. Slack water. Slack water. [Bridge] Fuck the sermon that labor is only numbers on a stub. A weld is two metals cut and fused and done. Slag drops. The seam stays shut. Gravity does the job a girder was poured to do. The valve wheel stings in the glove in January. Nobody has to believe in rust for rust to finish the job. [Chorus] Slack water does not argue. The current pauses. The current starts again. Boots change on the grate. The river does not clock out. Slack water. Slack water. [Verse 5] Third tour starts when the offices shut. A crane draws a slow cross over the slip. Chain finds the hook. Hook finds the load. The river was running before any whistle. The river will run after the whistles die. [Final Chorus] Slack water does not argue. The current pauses. The current starts again. Boots change on the grate. The river does not clock out. Slack water. Slack water. The tour changes. The water does not. That is the tally.
