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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