April 22,2026

Dedicated to old tree that stands at Yellow Horse Crossing in Tonkawa, Oklahoma

Verse 1
I was just a whisper in the dirt and rain,
Before there ever was a road or name.
No fences cut and no lines drawn,
Just wind and fire and the break of dawn.
They walked this river, soft and slow,
Where the shallow waters used to go.
I learned their songs in the midnight air,
Long before you found me there.
Chorus
I’m the tree by the crossing, I don’t forget.
Every soul that passed me, I remember yet.
From bare feet to boots, from wagons to wheels,
I’ve held every story this river reveals.
You may call it yours, but I was here long before.
I’m the tree by the crossing, still guarding the shore.
Verse 2
I saw the horses cut the tide,
Heard the thunder of a people’s ride.
Names were spoken I still hold,
Yellow Horse, or stories told.
Then came dust and the land run cries,
Hope and hunger in their eyes.
They crossed that river, claimed their ground,
But I just stood and watched it all go down.
Chorus
I’m the tree by the crossing, I don’t forget.
Every soul that passed me, I remember yet

From bare feet to boots, from wagons to wheels,
I’ve held every story this river reveals.
You may call it yours, but I was here long before.
I’m the tree by the crossing, still guarding the shore.
Bridge
Now I hear the saws in the morning light,
Steel and engines where there once was night.
Four hundred years beneath this sky,
And today, I fall, I say goodbye.
Don’t hang your head, don’t turn away.
I’ve seen enough to be okay.
Lay me down where the river bends,
I was here at the start, I’ll be there at the end.
Verse 3
When I’m gone and the shade ain’t there,
And the wind just moves through empty air,
You’ll still feel me in that ground,
In every root that’s still around.
And when you cross where waters run,
Think of all that I’ve become.
Not just wood and not just time,
But every life that crossed that line.
Final Verse
I can feel the weight in your crooked frame,
Every scar got a story, every cut a name.
You stood so long by that river’s side,
Now I’m here with you when you lay it down to die.
Ain’t just wood and ain’t just years,
You held this ground through blood and tears.