Ode to Ambrose Bierce
When you go down to Mexico
away down in the Tropics,
you'll find no friendly Texaco
and the folks aren't philanthropics.
In Ajijic or San Miguel
there's music in the air.
The beer is cheap, tequila's swell
and gringos everywhere.
The sun is bright, the palms are green,
the ladies are so Spanish.
But the nights can turn a little mean
and sometimes people vanish.
A lot of them just disappear
without a lot of traces
and no one sheds a single tear
and no one knows their faces.
So when you cross the border
to cantinas that are fierce,
be careful what you order
and remember Ambrose Bierce.
(Explanatory note: Bierce was a journalist and fiction writer who traveled to Chihuahua, Mexico, in 1913 to gain first-hand knowledge of the Mexican revolution. The 71 year old Bierce disappeared and was never seen again.)
13 comments:
That is down right good.
At some point I've heard his name mentioned.
Well done!
Doggerel you say?
Maybe, but hey!
The verse and the rhyme
ain't terse and keeps time
Those Mexican nights served you well
as we know, you lived to tell.
That's pretty good for just "messing around." Though it doesn't tempt me to visit Mexico!
Bierce was a weird character. He wrote some great short stories.
I remember the Ensenada barmaid well,
She had a scar from here to hell
I like that-------Didn't know Bierce went like that.
You win major points for rhyming "tropics" and "philanthropics"!
I like that.
You put to good use your stay in Mexico.
Our middle son was in Mexico City for the New Year: no fire works isn't that strange?
Excellent!
Really glad to see this post! In 1966, I wrote a play --performed by high school students-- based on Bierce's "Devil's Dictionary". It did not mention Mexico (or Pancho Villa, or Obregon --yes, I saw the arm, collapsed to digits and blubber in '63). Bierce was a hero of mine and his disappearance was mysterious. As to his disappearance, we must remember, he was 71 and there were no antibiotics.
Wonderful and still seems timely. Nicely done
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