100 Años de La Abuela

(One, two, three...
These are the morning songs that King David used to sing
to the pretty girls we sing them here
wake up nanny wake up, look it's already dawn
the birds are singing, the moon has set
yay... hooray)

And the hills grow old!
And they turn green!

We went to the ranch to see my grandma
who proudly celebrated her birthday
to celebrate, she gathered the whole family
to the little ranch that she and my grandpa built
on the cake we put a hundred candles
and with one blow she blew them all out
took photos of the whole family
parents with their children who are grandchildren of grandma
and their children are great-grandchildren and there are even great-great-grandchildren
and even the dog sneaked in

When we sang the joyful morning songs
two little tears rolled from her eyes
tio Lorenzo sat down to play the piano
del estuche sacó Félix su acordeón
we danced waltzes, jarabes, and even jota
even the polka of tip and heel
del la cocina escapaban los olores
of chorizo with beans, grills, chimichangas,
guacamole and nopalitos to eat in little tacos
water and lemon snow

(Chiquitibum a la bim bom ba
chiquitibum a la bim bom ba
a la bio a la bao a la bim bom ba
nana nana ra ra ra)

Wow, how much your family has grown!
the priest said to my grandma Rafaelita
surely they add up to more than a hundred and twenty
more daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, and with in-laws on top
also came the godparents, the godchildren
plus the neighbors and the cowboy Filemón
grandma said that when she was a little girl
Pancho Villa was around shooting bullets
and getting into fights
through the mountains on his horse, as there was a Revolution

Tell me grandma, did you know Pancho Villa?
were there forests on that bald hill?
how much did a kilo of tortilla cost?
And what did you see if there was no television?
what did you play if you didn't have a Nintendo,
computer, skateboard, and compact disc?
Tell me grandma, about the ranch and my grandpa
how were the cities without cars or buildings
without mercury lights, without shopping malls
and without pollution?

In the afternoon, she began to open the gifts
that were piled on a table in heaps
'I want to see all of them, especially the biggest one,
and the smallest one, and the one in the middle please'
Open them soon grandma, I'm anxious
as you're almost getting to the one I made for you
there were perfumes, earrings, and combs
scented soaps, wine-infused chocolates
in little boxes, arranged, adorned with ribbons
and these verses that I wrote

When it was late, close to midnight
we kids were sent to bed
before that, we asked grandma to tell us
about my grandpa, who was the sheriff of the town
about his adventures through the mountains on his horse
herding cows from Agua Prieta to Tucson
I want to learn zarzuela songs
dance like your grandma, to the beat of the pianola
as there were no phonographs or sound recorders
in the carquis dances
tell me grandma those stories again
of cowboys and apaches, of Spaniards,
Irish, Chinese, Yankees, and French
who founded these lands where I was born