Road Song
Fernando Ortega

How I love these roads
Every far and lonely highway,
Through basin and range
And a desert that never ends-
A sky so wide
You can feel your heart turn quiet,
And then I listen
For the voices of my friends

One rides in the summer wind beside me,
One flies with the stars
That set the wild night on fire,
One runs close and steady as a river,
I could drive for miles
Carried by that choir.

From the hills of my hometown,
To the Arizona canyons,
From Chinle to Sky City
To the gorge of the Rio Grande-
The high and winding way
From Chimayo to Las Trampas,
The long road bends
To the sweet sound of my friends.

One's up where the clouds brush the mountains,
One rushes down a stream
Past the bright columbine -
I could drive for miles
Just thinking about them,
How I love the road
And these true friends of mine.

One rides in the summer wind beside me,
One flies with the stars
That set the wild night on fire,
One runs close and steady as a river
I could drive for miles
Carried by that choir.