HOLLOW WORDS by Richard Martin 12/06 151
I had a dream the other night, as I lay asleep in my bed
The spirit of an Indian chief came to me, and this is what he said
The words of this world have made me bitter, I’ve lost faith in mankind
The words they speak are hollow, and the truth is hard to find
The words they speak are many; they shift like grains of sand
Like the salt from the ocean, these words poison the land
He tells me it would be much better, to move to another land
He speaks these hollow words to me, while he’s holding my hand
I watch my people starve, while the white man’s foods are plenty
He takes our game and burns the land, and his hollow words are many
This land that I held sacred, is now a prison for all my kind
I was the chief of all my people, now I’m forbidden to speak my mind
We only wanted to live on the land, where my people lived and died
But then the white man came, and pushed us all aside
My heart is saddened, to see the white man’s plan
They took our guns and arrows, they even took our land
Someday when the spirits come and take me away
I hope there’d be no hollow words, in that land far away