man, you don't even know

how the old neighborhood has changed

that ancient gas station, the one

with the best corn dogs and tamales?

it closed like last year, I think

the building's a cannabis shop now

 

over by the canal, the corn field

is now a huge apartment complex

there's a Chihuahua that runs loose

thing is the meanest dog ever, for real

 

but yeah, that old lady with the roses

growing all over her chain link fence?

the bruja?

she's still there on Roosevelt Street

looks the same as ever, too

no, no, you can tell she ain't had any

of those fancy injections or surgeries

she's just the same, get it?

 

when my mom was getting bad, the bruja

she brought over a whole cardboard box

heaped with food, all homemade

she wouldn't accept no money or anything

said Mom always treated her right

and this was her time to say thanks

 

you better believe we made Mom eat

every single bite of that food

over the next few weeks

yeah, she still died months later

but here's the thing

she had a lot less pain and slept better

which was all we'd prayed for, really

 

treat people right, man

and it'll come back around

I guess that's one thing

that hasn't changed, huh?