Elmer Beal is from Blue Hill, Maine. He's a farmer, woodcutter, educator and musician, and a maker of fine songs. He's also a member of Maine's favorite acoustic group, "Different Shoes." Elmer says he wrote this for his wife, Carole, a potter, inspired by the optimism in her work, at the time it takes between starting the job and seeing the results. (GB)
When it seems that everyone is worried
for themselves,
Buying plans for fallout shelters,
stocking up the shelves,
Living in the fast lane, and staying
high at night,
Thinking that by accident we'll blow
out all the lights;
Look, now, at the potter whose wheel
is spinning 'round,
Shaping with her hands the past and
future from the ground:
Cups that will be filled and drunk, so
warm in wintertime,
Plates and bowls for dinner served with
candlelight and wine:
She believes, she believes,
By her work it's so easy to see
that the future is more than the
following day,
It's fashioned securely in the clay.
Look now at the farmer working in
his field,
Hoping that the sun and rain will
guarantee his yield.
Like the seed the wind has blown to
unfamiliar ground,
He waits to see what fate will bring as
each year rolls around.
He believes...
Elsewhere, there are lovers in a warm
embrace,
Happy with their plans to carry on the
human race.
Now the baby cries and wonders if it's
all alone;
Softly, voices reassure: there'll always
be a home.
They believe...
So, if you had been worried that tomorrow
wouldn't come,
Look to see the ones whose lives are
following the sun.
And the hope that springs so clearly
from the work they do
Will spread a little further when it
finds a place in you.
We believe, we believe,
By our work it's so easy to see
that the future is more than the
following day,
It's fashioned securely in the clay.