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Más sabe el diablo por viejo que por diablo
At 22, you mugged my life
squeezed your arm around its neck
rifled through its pocketswith your large,
aged hands
Pancho Villa’s men invaded your family home
and killed your grandfather
I have paid for those robberies
Was I wrong to hold on to my life?
Because when you yanked it away
Francisco de Goya: "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters" from “Los Caprichos"
it left me twisted with a limp
on the right side
You wrested from me what you
could not have from your own daughter
For her you wanted love, family, career
I would reassemble these
from pieces left scattered on the ground
I am older
I know now
why the devil is the devil
You taught me
The devil knows more because he is old
than because he is the devil.
note : The last two lines are translated from the Spanish proverb given just beneath the title.
Segway Volcano Courtesy of Leanna Balloffet © 2010
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