Words
and Music: Helen Kivnick
Gary Garner once sent me a tape of songs he had sing (mostly a capella) that his wife Helen Kivnick had written. This poignant portrait was among them, and I set the accompaniment to it and brought it Ed and Ann. (GB) I've known Helen for almost 30 years now, and she continues to amaze me! (ET)
It's up and down the
valley we go 12 months of the year
In chilling fog in winter
and in summer hot and clear
We spend out days a
'laboring in the bounty of what grows
But a barren shack and an
aching back is the night the migrant knows
We see the valley's beauty
in the trees and on the ground
While almond blossoms
dress the orchards white for miles around
And offer with their
fragrance the promise of good yield
But we'll never taste of
the nuts that fall, we'll be off to another field
We work among the peaches
before the break of day
We stand on shaky ladders
with out hands we feel our way
We see the dawn through
branches as we watch the peaches glow
Though we choose the best
and we load the rest, the worst is all we know
To pick the ripest plums
we work among the angry bees
To reach the sweetest
cherries we climb high into the trees
In vineyards our shears
flash as we work two along the vines
Others eat the fruit we
pick and we drink the cheap jug wine
It's up and down the
valley all 12 months of the year
Burnt brown in summer's
oven and chilled in winter drear
We live among the richest
crops this country has to grow
Through our hands the
valley's treasure, our nation's health and pleasure,
a taste not ours to know.
Great Valley's Harvest was recorded on the album Harbors
of Home