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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


EVENING by TILLIE BURCH

First Line: IT IS EVENING TIME, AND DON JUAN PACHECO
Last Line: AND NOW OVER ALL GLEAMS THE BRIGHT EVENING STAR.
Subject(s): CHICANOS; EVENING; MEXICAN AMERICANS; SUNSET; TWILIGHT;

It is evening time, and Don Juan Pacheco
Is home at last from Arroyo Seco.
His burro, dozing, points an ample ear
As the hum of an automobile draws near;
An eastern tourist in a fancy car
Stops in the road to inquire how far.
Juan rolls a smoke, then points the way,
Says, "Sixty miles -- maybe -- to Santa Fe."
A madonna-like face crowned with jet-black hair
Is framed for a moment in the window there.
A song floats out on the peaceful vale:
Rosita is singing to baby Miguel.
@3The ranchita casa@1, with walls quite thick,
Is built of adobe, the sun-dried brick.
Tall hollyhocks stand like Franciscan friars;
Smoke curls like incense from cedar fires.
As a holy chant in this sun-baked land
Is heard the splash of the Little Rio Grande.
An old cottonwood tree casts its shadows far,
And now over all gleams the bright evening star.



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