“Sleeping is hard”
the old gringo suggested
at a meeting of townsfolk
the salón quite congested
Many residents turned out
to see what could be done
for the noise levels of late
too high had become
Others nodded that they,
too, had difficulties sleeping
for the bars down the street
towards them now were creeping
Merida’s yuppies, you see
from their north city perch
were “discovering” centro;
and drunkenly they’d lurch
from cantinas to bars
and from bars to cantinas
they puked on front doors,
cackling, like in-heat hyenas
They peed on parked cars,
and on trees newly planted,
in flower pots, on gates;
they sang and they chanted
The gringos of course,
with restored antique homes,
were sick of the partying,
the watts, volts and ohms
The loud music you see,
was the worst part of all,
booming into the night,
it would shake every wall
“El derecho ajeno…”
tired expats would quote
Benito Juarez’s speech
they all knew now by rote
A conflict was brewing
with resentment in the air
both sides were quite angry
and tempers would flare
The partyers were offended
and angrily cried
“We’re reviving our customs;
our city hasn’t died!”
They continued like this
the spoiled yuppies would foam
“If the gringos don’t like it,
they should pack up and go home!”
Some went a bit further,
xenophobic and furious
“stupid gringos should have known,
and bought land in some curious
hacienda or village
far away from the city
no bars or cantinas, and
an existence less gritty.
What they didn’t realize
kids privileged and bored
was that the gringos had come
and their downtown restored
It was they with their love,
with their patience; their money
who fixed up El Centro
and wasn’t it funny
that now Merida’s centro
had recovered its charm,
new restaurants and bars
all started to swarm
and what once were just houses
on quiet residential streets
became targets for investors
to increase their receipts
So now here we stand
at an impasse, it seems
while the conflict continues,
El Diario prints reams
about musicians and artists;
this regulation, that norm;
about sleep-deprived gringos;
and an imminent storm.