With No Mills by Ed Pacht

I am a mill town

but I have no mills

I was born on the Hill

and lived on the Hill

and grew on the Hill

until …

Cocheco called

called me to the Plain

with a mighty flow to turn the wheels

and build the mills

and the mills called

called to nearby farms

called to frigid northern realms

called and called across the sea

and workers came to me

to run the mills

and weave the cloth

and make the shoes

and build a thriving city here

but I have no mills

the mills have gone

they left for warmer climes

they moved to foreign lands

they died

the wheels no longer turn

the workers lost their jobs

cafes and shops have closed their doors

I am a mill town

but I have no mills

and when a mill town has no mills

it will slowly die

or so they say

but I shall not

I shall not die

I raise my voice and call

from the Hill and from the Plains I call

with the Parson’s voice in Central Square

I call

with two rivers’ mighty flows

I call

and my voice is being heard

and they will come

and while the mill town’s groans resound

and seem to dim the autumn color in the trees

yet in a mill town with no mills

there is life

there is hope

and art will blossom on the streets

and on the old brick walls

and in the city’s office space

and in the shops that once were closed

and they will come

I am a mill town

I have no mills

but I look to something better

and I call for something better

and in my grungy mill town heart

I hope and think I know

that it will come