Nueva York Emanuel Xavier

While Mexicans shine the soul Of the white man's shoes Ricans and Dominicans drive around With black-faced saints and virgins on their dashboards Blasting freestyle and rap from their cars Down the streets where mountain campesinos Fall in love with South American cholas Getting cruised by the homeless men With loose change jingling in their pockets All the latinos freezing their nalgas off in the winter Screaming ME CAGO EN DIOS! While reminiscing about homelands Where tropical trees and twilights warm their souls & the sun always brings out natural skin tones Papito vendiendo coquitos Mientras brown-skinned project mothers Cross themselves before heading off to the factories Or going out to do the compras So that the children won't have to eat Pan con welfare cheese again 16-year-old Angie popping her gum hands on her cintura screaming out the window Yo Miriam...  Throw down the baby!... But I don't wanna go up the stairs... I'm too tired! Just throw the baby out the window... I'll catch him! The gringos watching curiously Lost in the translation Unable to understand The slang bodega terms The Nuyorican words That give the spice of life The ritmo and sabor To la isla de Nueva York  

Colores Vivos Copyright 1998

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