Title: Red Tail Over Oklahoma
Verse 1
Oklahoma sunrise, pale gold on the plains
Truck stops hummin’ like an old freight train
I was haulin’ cattle, coffee gone cold
Countin’ fence posts, doin’ what I was told
Pulled off the highway for diesel and rest
Dust on my boots, sweat on my chest
That’s where the road slowed down enough
For me to notice somethin’ softer than tough
Verse 2
There was an old man by the pumps, braids tied back tight
Lines in his face like years of fight
Didn’t say much, just nodded his head
Like he’d seen most things a man ain’t said
He asked where I’d been, where I was goin’ to
I said, “Anywhere cattle’ll pay me to”
He smiled real slow like he already knew
Said, “This land remembers more than you do”
Chorus
He gave me a red tail hawk feather
Said his daddy gave it to him
Said it ain’t luck, it’s remember
Who you are and where you’ve been
I’ve carried it hat to hat
State to state, rodeo to rodeo
That feather’s seen more miles than me
Red tail over Oklahoma
Verse 3
He said, “That hawk don’t bow to fear
It rides the wind, stays crystal clear
Don’t clip its wings with borrowed doubt
Just watch the sky when you’re feelin’ worn out”
I thanked him twice, didn’t know what to say
Some gifts don’t come with words anyway
Watched him walk off like a ghost in heat
Back into dust and history
Chorus
He gave me a red tail hawk feather
Handed down through blood and bone
Said, “Carry it when you wander
So you never walk alone”
I’ve carried it hat to hat
State to state, rodeo to rodeo
That feather’s seen more miles than me
Red tail over Oklahoma
Bridge
It rode with me through Texas nights
Through busted checks and arena lights
Through prayers I whispered into steer-wheel grain
And long roads home through cold hard rain
When I didn’t know who I was tryin’ to be
That feather remembered for me
Verse 4
These days it sits in a glass-front frame
In a quiet office, under my name
A little piece of sky I can still believe
From a man who trusted me with what he’d received
Sometimes I swear when the work gets loud
I see that hawk flyin’ low through a crowd
Still circlin’ slow, still holdin’ true
Like Oklahoma skies always do
Final Chorus
Yeah, he gave me a red tail hawk feather
From his father’s careful hand
And I carried it across my living
Like a promise to the land
Hat to hat, state to state
Rodeo to rodeo
I’m still that kid on the open road
Red tail over Oklahoma
Outro
If I ever lose my way again
I’ll look up, not in
That red tail’s still cuttin’ through the blue
Over Oklahoma… me too.
WeatheredOakStudios
