What This Land Once Was

[good4somethingbum]

What This Land Once WasI was drivin’ through Texas, on a lonesome two-laneThe blacktop was blurry, from heat off the plainsMy mind began to wander, and up ahead of my FordI saw an old Apache, by a Burma Shave billboardHe was wiping’ a tear, for his native soilThough his land was scarred, the hist’ry in his heart Remained loyalTo what this land once was And mem’ries turning to dustOf a shaman in shining feathers and deerskinHe’d dance for rain and heaven would hear himBut now his nation was just a broken arrowand prayers for his home were fallen sparrowsAnd he wept because…of what this land once wasThen I saw my granpa, movin’ here in ‘29He always said he chuckled, at Burma Shave rhymesHe useta drive out mornings, rifle in his rumbleseatPick off stewin’ rabbits, in ravines and tumbleweedsWonder what he’d say now, ‘bout graffitti on the rocksWould he curse the years, and wipe away a tearFor vanishing hawksAnd what this land once wasAnd mem’ries turning to dustOf midnight bells from old Spanish missionsCoyote foothills and moonlight fishin’Of lovebirds singing on sunrise windmillsCool May creeks running past toolshed gin millsWould he cry because…Of what this land once wasSpoken…Then I rubbed my chin and chuckled to myselfAt a rhyme granpa told me when I was twelveThe prickly beard/on John’s old mug/ is thicker than/ a grizzly rugTry Burma ShaveThen I laughed harder and pounded the dashAt one he told me over homemade sourmashJoe’s chin whiskers/are his shame/he’s got a bush/just like a dame’sHe needs Burma ShaveI wiped tears of laughter, got home late that afternoonAnd saw how lights downtown, were slowly filin’ downFingernail moonsAnd what this land once wasWhat this land once was…©2007 Robert George