Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). The New Poetry: An Anthology. 1917.
Petrolinos ComplaintAlice Corbin
T
But worst of all is the way the people have become.
They have no hearts, and their minds are like putty,
And if you ask for conversation, they might as well be dumb!
And I don’t hear as well—muy verdad—as some,
With my stick I can walk faster than many,
And my mind travels faster than a man’s with no tongue!
Their ranches are now no bigger than your thumb,
The young men work in the mines in Colora’o,
Or they sit and warm their stomachs in the sun!
But when they would marry, they haven’t the sum;
And the old songs and dances are forgotten,
As the Saints will be forgotten—if they go on as they’ve begun!
Through all the placitas where we used to run;
But the old ways have changed since you walked here,
And a goat is more sociable than a man that is dumb!