The Lights of Marfa, Texas (as told by a tribal elder)

In the heart of the desert, ancient spirits roam,
In lands of Apache, this legend is known,
There once lived a people old as the sands
They looked out in sorry at the loss of their home.

The Apache chief was filled with hate and
Promised his daughter for a change of fate.
To the warrior who brought him a white woman’s scalp
He’d give his daughter on a golden plate.

Naiche, a young warrior, with eyes so deep,
Took up the challenge, with courage to keep,
He stalked a family, by Pecos River,
Watching a maiden whose beauty was deep.

Amelia, the name of a spirit unbound,
Innocence and naivety within her he found.
Her story with Naiche's would soon combine
Never to part from Apache’s ground.

Beneath the stars, in the night's embrace,
Naiche and Amelia met, face to face,
Their hearts beat as one, in love's bright flame,
He found her fate in her soft embrace.

For Naiche knew, his chief's decree,
He knew their love could never be.
In lust and sorrow, he took his prize,
Then took her scalp as she fell to her knees.

He wed the chief's daughter, but in dreams he'd see,
Amelia's face, haunted memory,
As war descended, he spread his arms wide
For only in death would he ever be free.

Now when night falls, and desert winds sing,
The legend of Naiche and Amelia springs,
In Marfa's lights, a dance so bright,
Two souls unite in eternal light.