Across the street, the caballeros
test their percussion,
rehearse the mariachi,
interjecting "Uh huh, uh huh," in falsetto.
Lovely ladies in high heels come
and all the neighborhood
rejoices -- good salsa,
good rhythm, sad lyrics
with a musing parrot's caws --
driving hard and perfect,
it's so good, but what is this?
Old white woman enters the street
spreading her arms wide,
grabbing the young mexican man
as he passes, "Dance with me
for a moment, dance with me.."
One-two-three, one-two-three,
she waltzes and smiles
a crooked smile. "Thank-you!
Thank-you for all the joy
You've brought --
Don't you know we are each other?"
The young man slips away,
whispering to his friends,
"She's loco, who is she?"
And right there in the street,
she disappears
into a mist...
But all the young men
still hear her humming...
~VLambert
