NO ONE KNOWS THE TIME AND THE PLACE WHEN WE DEPART...

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only...

ADIOS, MARIA
(Requiem for a friend)

As a young girl coming of age

In the Las Prietas hood

You learned to throw

To make it,

And get respect

You grew all too quickly there

And had your kids

When you were just a child, too

And leaving school, to fend off life

And earn the daily bread

You worked in bars, en los congales, too

Rough days, the hurly-burly of

Cantina pleitos

You endured, and sometimes grew inured

Bar brawls, and botellasos, 

Y los plomasos

Were a part of life

As were conjuntos, chancles,y las movidas; 

The one-night romances, the furtive eye

Then you found him

And settled down

Sentates cabeza, mi Maria

Like most cantina girls will never do

And then that day, in peace 

And home and hearth

Watching TV, with him

You felt your breath come short

And choked, and wheezed

And despite all that he did 

To clear your breath,

It was for naught

And you met death

After the knife fights, shootouts

And brawls that you survived

In countless tawdry joints...

A piece of onion clogged your air

And just like that,
Without time for goodbyes,
You died

Adios, mi linda

Adios Maria

Descansa en paz

Cause no one knows...