He Who Loved the Land  (Chakotay's Song)
tune:  "Leader of the Band"

I was a child, born free and wild
My father's only son
And what I learned there at his knee
When I was very young
Was that the world in which we lived
To its own self belonged
And if we tried to keep its ways
In honor we'd be strong

Our people lived the old ways
And my father lived the same
He said the richness of our world
Was nothing man should tame
One day he took a lump of soil
And pressed it in my hand
He said it was my heritage
To learn to love the land

Chorus:
He who loved the land is gone
But his mem'ry won't grow cold
For his purpose burns hot in my blood
And his cause, it fires my soul
I'll strive to guard my father's world
In any way I can
I will protect the legacy
Of he who loved the land

But I was seeking other truths
And so I went to space
I wandered through the different worlds
And never found my place
So Father was alone the day
Cardassians came to take
The land he'd always cherished
In their image to remake

My father died that dreadful day
He fell to alien greed
I came back home and took up arms
To answer our world's need
My Starfleet calls me traitor now
But they don't understand
I am the son of Kolopak
And I will guard the land
(Chorus)

I am become the legacy
Of he who loved the land

-- Brenda Shaffer-Shiring

    Source: geocities.com/chakotaytorres/poetry

               ( geocities.com/chakotaytorres)