Thursday, October 10, 2013

Song of the Cherokee

©2013 Steve Anthony
All rights reserved
 
Song of the Cherokee
 by Steve Anthony

[V1]
As I stopped beside a stream in a forest that's nearby
I spied a woman standing with her hands raised toward the sky.
She was old and she was wrinkled, her hair was flowing gray,
In her hands she held a little drum bound in feathers that were frayed.
I slipped behind a tree into the shadows of the day,
so that I would not disturb her as she sang, and as she prayed.

 [Refrain]
"Oh Great Spirit, now please hear me for my time is growing near
and my heart is deeply broken for the earth that you hold dear.
Man has robbed it of its beauty he has pillaged near and far
stripped the forests and the mountains and his profit leaves it scarred.
We've forgotten all you taught us; how to live in harmony
and to treat each other with respect, in your image we should be.
Please look down on us Great Spirit, touch our hearts and make us kind
And let us restore the beauty of the earth you left behind.
Aiyyyahhhhh aiiyyyahhh aiiyahhh aiiyyhhheeeee
Aiyyahhh aiyyyahhh hear my song of the Cherokee."

 [V2]
When she finished she walked slowly down a path and disappeared
so I followed just so I could see if she came from somewhere near
I stumbled on a pile of rocks with a marker there that read

“PLEASE RESPECT THIS ANCIENT GRAVE.
PLEASE RESPECT THE DEAD.”

And just below the marker were the words that she had said
They were carved into the ancient stones placed there above her head.
[Repeat refrain]

[Repeat] 
Please look down on us Great Spirit touch our hearts and make us kind
And let us restore the beauty of the earth you left behind.
Aiyyyahhhhh aiiyyyahhh aiiyahhh aiiyyhhheeeee
Aiyyahhh aiyyyahhh hear my song of the Cherokee.

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