Jorge Argueta - Cancion De Mango/Mango Song

CANCION DE MANGO/MANGO SONG
by
Jorge Argueta

CANCION DE MANGO Detrás la casita Pintada de muchos colores Y techo de lámina Hay un árbol Muy Muy grande de mango Los mangos Los verdes Son ácidos Y los amarillos Saben a miel Por las mañanas Las ramas del árbol Se llenan de pájaros Y se arma Ayyyy señor Que gran fieston El árbol muy Muy grande de mango Detrás la casita pintada De muchos colores Y techo de lámina Balila Esta bailando El árbol muy Muy grande de mango Detrás la casita pintada De muchos colores Y techo de lámina Canta Esta cantando El árbol muy Muy grande de mango Detrás la casita pintada De muchos colores Y techo de lámina Ya no es árbol Ahora es canció

MANGO SONG There is a tall Tall Mango tree Behind the tin roof Colorful houses The mangos The green ones Are sour And the yellow So sweet In the mornings Bird all colors Fill the tree And there is What a party In the branches of the tree The tall Tall tallllllll Mango tree Behind the tin roof Colorful house Dances Is dancing The tall Tall tallllllll Mango tree Behind the tin roof Colorful house Sings Is singing The tall Tall talllllll Mango tree Behind the tin roof Colorful house Is not a tree any more Now is a song

© 2010 Jorge Argueta. All rights reserved.

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Jorge Argueta has won numerous awards for his books of bilingual poetry, including the Américas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature. His background - he's a native Salvadoran and Pipil Nahua Indian who grew up surrounded by love in a house with dirt floors before leaving his civil war torn country to come to the U.S. in 1980 - lets him draw on themes and topics that are far afield from what I can draw on... yet his use of language and images and his point of view enable me to connect with his poetry completely.

Whether he's writing about nature or the contrasts between countries or food - he is writing a series of cooking poem books, the first of which Sopa de fijoles/Bean Soup was a Junior Library Guild Selection in 2009 - I can honestly say that his poetry makes me wish I could read Spanish so I could appreciate each poem for the first time twice. I'm truly excited to have Jorge Argueta here at GottaBook as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.

Yesterday gave us Move Out! by Carole Boston Weatherford. Tomorrow... Susan Marie Swanson with Wonders. For more on 30 Poets/30 Days and ways to follow along, please click here.