Meeting With Swift Cloud

1  The man in the woods called me one day
Said I have a thing or two to say
I want to share with you some deeper thoughts
Before this day is through
	Alone he lived
	In a small wooden house
	Together with his only son
With a simple iron stove to give central heat
He said, Come in! Welcome!

2 And there he did unfold the secrets of old
How his parents lived in tune, and with
The forces of the wild, the plants, seasons
In fact, they had their own sacred myths
	We knew the inner path
	And that all are from God
	We knew righteousness, he said
       But, nowadays, he said, we’re taught right from wrong
       And spend more time being bad

3  The early way was the good way
In this our own true native land.
Nobility was ours, but now what do we have?
A reserve and a dole-giving hand.
	It occupies my mind
	The things he said
	And it burdens me to admit that it’s true
Let me haul a pail of water, feel the weight of it, too
And the experience of being misunderstood