Pobre La María
Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy
Poor Maria
Smelling like tobacco and rum
In a room of a tenement
Maria cries, a-ya-yay her melancholy
And from the jukebox a song is heard
By La Sonora.
She came from the countryside to the city
One night Terencio left her
During the day she cooks, washes, and irons for others
She sells lottery tickets there by Metrocentro
And every night to the highest bidder
She rents out her body.
Poor Maria ayayay and her fantasy ayayay
That the capital was the best
To escape poverty
In front of the mirror she bought at Oriental
She puts on her dress and necklace
Maybe tonight won't be so bad
She walks down Tiscapa towards Lobo Jack
And in the early morning, one day older,
She returns home.
Her kids watch cars,
Sell water, eat nothing
They smell glue and wander the streets of Managua
Maria laments that her life
Will never escape poverty.
Smelling like tobacco and rum
In a room of a tenement
Maria cries, a-ya-yay her melancholy
And from the jukebox a song is heard
By La Sonora.
