moon over 26951

If you travel to the downeast
Cross Knox county line
Hug the coastline on route one
Find the Thomaston sign
If you get there after dark
Past the setting sun
The moon shines on the St. George River
And the grave of 26951

Back in the 1820s
If a man were to sin
Stand before twelve equals
And if a guilty verdict's in
He'd wave goodbye to his loved ones
Because he knew he was done
He gets a Maine prison number just like 26951

By day you'd mine the limerock
Quarry 200 feet
Some water and a lobster stew
Burned away by summer heat
Lowered into cages
At night when you were done
And in the darkness you'd relive
What made you 26951

Some men did their time
The gates open they're free
Others spend their lives there
Thinking 'bout what'll never be
Found cold at morning roll call
Never claimed by wife or son
Buried at the prison cemetery
Next to 26951

Now the prison burned and was torn away
A single corner stands
The debris of a thousand convict lives
Now under loam and sand
Prison showroom sells the wares

Of inmates old and young
Tourists bustle around
But they don't see 26951

Black steel surrounds the graveyard
And the few stones that remain
Granite etched with sparse prose
Some dates, some names
Overlooking the great Maine forest
Where the tides and rivers run
That's where I knelt beside the marker of 26951

I never know who you are
What happened or what you did
If you were kind or you were evil
All those memories hid
But please know that from now on
No matter what you've done
One man will stop and say a prayer for 26951

So if you're driving downeast
Knox county line
Make a stop there on Main Street
And if you find the time
You should walk that south prison wall
And spend a minute son
Pay respects to those buried there
And to 26951

And the river runs to the sea
I watch the river roll to the sea
Over the wall you hear that river wild and free
I hope somebody
Remembers me
Yeah the river to the sea
Yeah the river runs to the sea
Over the wall you hear the river
Wild and free
I hope somebody remembers me