LA DOŇA MARIA ELENA

Down by the Mission San Miguel, there is a house wherein dwells

Don Carlos and La Doňa Maria Elena Cantrell

I work at the ranch, I saddle her mare,

I ride with a gun behind, as she visits her friends here and there,

She says “Thank you, Manuel” and “Manuel, por favor”,

And “Good morning, Manuel”, La Doňa Maria Elena Cantrell.

I dream of the Mission San Miguel, and it says to me, the Mission bell,

“She is married, Manuel, the wife of the rancher, Don Carlos Cantrell.

You work at the ranch, you hold her chair,

You carry her boxes and and trunks and letters and books everywhere”,

 But I hear with my heart

What she says with her eyes,

She says “Thank you, Manuel”, and “Manuel, por favor”,

And “Good morning, Manuel”, and “Manuel – close the door”

And such was the life of a Mexican paisano……

Peripatetic Scribe