Garnet Rogers - Sleeping Buffalo lyrics

He lives an hour outside of Billings The distant hills are brown and sere The wind plays tricks outside your hearing And whispers lies into your ears He's got a station at a crossroads He's got war medals in his den He's got a wife in the county hospice She's not coming home again He filled my tank and cleaned the windshield He popped the hood and checked the oil He wiped his hands upon his chinos His eyes were as dark as prairie soil He said, "Do you know of the Sleeping Buffalo? They're about a half an hour away A ring of sacred stones upon a hilltop That's what the Indians say The Indians gathered in the springtime Bearing gifts for the Buffalo The white men set the stones in concrete Behind a fence beside the road I used to go when I was younger Before I fought in Hitler's war Now it's a park for the goddam tourists I won't go there anymore" He said, "Son I ain't no Indian You can look at me and tell But ba*tards like Custer had it coming I hope he's burning still in hell" I left him at that windy crossroads The shades of night began to fall I thought I'd drive toward the sunset And pay the Buffalo a call The sun was just below the hilltops The night wind pulled me by my shirt I walked toward the granite figures Behind the fence, set in the dirt They loomed dull grey in the gathering twilight I saw faded paint of red and blue Some ancient hand had chiseled markings Now a graven image for a roadside zoo But I drew near I saw the flowers Tobacco and fresh cartridges lay near And so, for some faithful unseen wanderers The Buffalo's spirit lingers here