The Hawk's Song - Josh Joffen
Sun-streaked sky over mountains
The rivers are ribbons of light
We raise our heads to the cooling air
Shake the stiffness from our wings before flight
Then launched from our cliffside aeries
We ride the invisible streams
Up over mesas and down into canyons
A challenge to all in our screams
Since the rivers first cut the canyons
Since the first coyote's call
We have hunted and nested and hatched our young
It is we who are the rulers of all
We saw the first men come to the mesas
They were builders and planters of corn
For years beyond number they flourished there
Their old ones died and their young ones were born
We saw them driven to live on the cliffside
Diminished by drought and by war
Their strong ones left and their weak ones died
And the land it was ours once more
CHORUS
Now the twilight wind whispers through treetops
Empty doorways and ruins of stone
The first stars appear and the shadows climb high
And the desolation is swallowed and gone
And the new men return in the daylight
to run their hands over ancient walls
But they leave the ghosts and the canyons to us
As the darkness begins to fall
© 1986 Josh Joffen (BMI)