His clan had been warriors and he once was too
Had a faded old pic of himself on the wall
Smiling so big in his fancy dress blues.
In the picture he stood proud and tall

So long ago but still fresh in his mind
Those days when he went off to war
And over the years he had searched hard to find
Exactly just what it was for

Life in the Nation could be hard at times
No banners unfurled to the wind
Up to his house on the mesa he climbs
No neighbors, few family, few friends

He’s a mostly Traditional man nowadays
He keeps up the customs of his fathers gone by
Sometimes torn between new and old ways
As he looks to the Navajo sky

He remembers the roar of the old Higgins boats
And his good friends who just called him Chief
He’s still got some old letters home that he wrote
As the war went on, they became brief

In the wind on the mesa he sometimes still hears
The cries of the wounded and shriek of the shells
And how as a young man he cowered in fear
As they all did in that far off hell

He remembers the flag that was raised on that day
You could see it from down on the beach
What his thoughts were he just couldn’t say
He feared home was just too far to reach

And now he’s an old man who lives all alone
A warrior once, so long ago
Proud of his people and proud of his home
When his spirit is gone we won’t know

But his bloodline goes back to where life began
And will go on until the world’s end
You will still feel his spirit if you walk on his land
In the sun on that warm mesa wind

Code Talker