Out across the wind swept desert, the soldier stares
From the old clothe bag comes a weathered book.
Flipping marked pages, seeing an old photo - A Buffalo Soldier.
The old man, who shares his name, looks through time to his kin.
With clear dark eyes, the soldier gazes back and begins to read:

Waking by a snow capped mesa
A Buffalo Soldier rises and stands tall in his youth
Both Mesa and Man had endured strong evils.
Of wind and rain; and constant loneliness
A troubled age had begun them both

Standing mysteriously at the brim of a village
The Buffalo Soldier on horse sits straight…..

Yet they held fast to their roots, their home
A unique way of thinking and being
Existing through time and space
Their spirit endures today in the land
And in the faces of their great grandchildren

Standing mysteriously at the brim of a village
The Buffalo Soldier on horse sits tall……

Flowing through time and tumbling through space
the rapids of flowing time snake slowly to journey’s end.
Completing the cycle of life and death; then going home.
Hating and Helping, protecting and killing, at the same time
On yellowed pages - hours and years passing, generations meeting

Standing mysteriously at the brim of a village
The Buffalo Soldier on horse sits dreaming……

Wanted: Good Men - Dedicated, Proud, Brave
Poster reads: Opportunity and a New Beginning
“As far as the eye can see..” reads the soldier
United States Army, Manifest Destiny,
Summer of 1866 -- Into the land of the West.

Standing mysteriously at the brim of a village
The Buffalo Soldier on horse sits hoping

A symbol of stories, neither lost nor misleading
Growing ever tall in the darkness of night
Folktales to children marked with Buffalo Faces
Their Native American brothers gave them a gift
A name of strength, of power, of thundering might.

Standing mysteriously at the brim of a village
The Buffalo Soldier on horse sits dreaming

Closing the book, the young man, looks away.
Quickly walking back to his regiment of men,
Eyes quickly pausing on horizon’s dirty edge
Thinking, dreaming, looking up at a blue sky
Understanding at last what it means to be free,

Standing mysteriously at the brim of a village,
His grandfather’s grandfather saw the promise.