The World Still Turns

The focus of this song is the Durham mining community with my grandad and grandma as the main inspiration. The tune is borrowed from a version of "The Water is Wide". The image is by Bill Brandt. He rose like stone / into the rain. His breath a ghost / his boots a chain. He broke his loaf without a word And passed it on—no fuss, no lord. She kept the fire / in ashes low, A kettle ticking,/ and slow to glow. She cleaned the wounds / no one could see, Then left the room / more quietly. The house is ash. / The pit is still. But something walks / against the chill— Not law, not pride, / not polished right, But hand to hand / in gutter light. So if you ask / what doesn’t die, It’s not the crown / or flag or lie. The world still turns / on what we give— On how we help / the hurt to live.