Six years we've lived in Mexico, <br />And now it's time to go. <br />We're headed back to Washington, <br />Where winter brings the snow. <br /> <br />The winters here are warmer though; <br />In Juarez it was dry. <br />Sonora baked in sunlight, <br />Under blue and open sky. <br /> <br />But, if we wanted weather, <br />We would not have made a bet <br />That New Laredo was a place <br />To be so drippy wet. <br /> <br />Aside from weather, there are <br />Many things to talk about: <br />That we have learned your 'espanol, ' <br />We don't think there's a doubt. <br /> <br />We like your food, we sing your songs, <br />Of course, your dances, too. <br />Your beauty has rubbed off on us, <br />The way good cultures do. <br /> <br />We'll take these things back home with us, <br />To use them when we can.... <br />And tell them tales of Mexico, <br />Its people, and its land. <br /> <br />The people and the land, <br />Oh, how inseparable they are. <br />The people's love of 'patria' <br />Is like a shining star. <br /> <br />Of all the things we think about, <br />As our time here now ends, <br />The things we cherish most of all <br />Are having you as friends. <br /> <br />To Mexico, a fond farewell. <br />To friends, our gratitude, <br />For making these six years with you <br />A pleasant interlude. <br /> <br /> <br />(Recited to our friends at a farewell dinner, <br />'La comida de despedida, ' on June 24,1972, <br />in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico.)<br /><br />Frank V. Gardner<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/mexico-farewell/
