MARIQUITA

picture of Dick Dufresne

Dick Dufresne
Kennebunkport, Maine

Old Man Time done wrote his log up in the wrinkles of my brow,
And there ain't that much about me as a girl would take to now;
For I've changed beyond all knowing from the man I used to be,
But I remember Mariquita who was mighty fond of me!

I can close my eyes and see it, just as plain as yesterday;
See the mountains and the harbour, the shipping in the bay,
And the town that looked like heaven to us shellbacks fresh from sea,
And I remember Mariquita who thought a deal of me!

I can hear the chiming mule-bells and a stave of Spanish song,
And the blessed old guitarros, a-tinkling all night long;
Hear the dusty palm trees stirring, taste the vino flat and sour,
And I remember Mariquita with her white skirts like a flower!

Well, it's years since I've seen her; if she died I never knew,
Or got old and fat and ornery, as some young sweethearts do;
And me pals have changed as well now, from the men they used to be,
When I first met Mariquita on the quayside by the sea!

Well, I think it's better that way for there's nothing left but change;
With the ships I knew laid up or lost, and the ports I knew grown strange,
Though I've changed beyond all knowing from the man I used to be,
I remember Mariquita and she's always young to me!
I remember Mariquita and she's always young to me!

(Poem by C. Fox Smith, FULL SAIL, pp. 108-110 © 1926
Adapted and musically arranged by Charlie Ipcar © 2004)

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