Published on: 10/22/2008
They Tell Me That You Had Cherokee Blood

They tell me that you had Cherokee blood.
We have no pictures of you to study
To find out if this is truly so;
Mom and I can only study our faces.

We have no pictures of you to study -
They've been lost in family squabbles.
We can only study our faces
To find where our roots lie;

And those roots were lost in family squabbles,
So I want to study a paper trail
To find out where our roots lie.
I can barely remember your picture.

I want to study a paper trail
And find the matching photographs.
I can barely remember your picture;
I see it, glossy, in blurred black and white.

To find the matching photographs,
I must reach out to the family we despised -
I see them, glossy, in blurred black and white
As memories buried in my mind.

I must reach out to those who we despised.
Hard feelings and sharp tongues make chasms;
Memories buried in my mind
Make me wonder if I can cross them.

Hard feelings and sharp tongues make chasms;
But we have no pictures of you to study.
These chasms, I must now cross them.
They tell me that you had Cherokee blood.