Behind That Navajo Smile

What have those eyes
of yours seen
in the passing of time
my friend ..
The coming of seasons
and the birth
of new souls no doubt ..
Not to mention the
departure of old ones
and so many
bleached bones ..
The rape of our prairie
and demise
of the forest, we once
hunted and played in ..
So I ask you
again what became of
clean-water, of buffalo,
of elk, and of
rainbow flanked salmon ..
Is it so hard to
forget, the back-on-back
famine ..
Those lean years and the
slaughter ..
The arrival of small-pox,
of syphilis
and of course, influenza ..
Not to mention our old
friends both
cholera and alcohol ..
Yes those are but a few
of the many
things we are meant to
be ever so grateful for ..
And just a few of those,
these eyes of
mine have been privy to
in the passing of time,
my friend ..
Now does all that satisfy
your vague
curiosity and answer
the question
that you ran past me earlier ..