Song Of The Rio Grande (for Oscar and Valeria Martinez-Ramirez)

I used to hear the running of the river as a song with no ending

The sound was like a message to my spirit that the river was sending

The rushing of the water played with harmonies continually ascending

Enchanted by the river I would stand alone in fear and ever trembling

The Rio Grande filled my heart

But now I've seen a side of things that makes the song a curious tune

It seems the river is a siren calling underneath a cowardly moon

And harmonies grow darker as the revelation opens up to me

And up to you

Because now I've seen the river kill our brother and our tiny sister too

The Rio Grande has drowned my heart

Of course, it's not the river, It's the people we've elected to lead us

Who make the walls and send the armored wagons for the ones who would join us

While billionaires recline upon divans upholstered in the skins of slaughter

And feast upon the children we should think of as our only sons and daughters

America, you've lost your heart

(And it's no excuse, just being scared or blind)

America, you've lost your mind