Letras
Storm clouds came up from Mexicali
Cast shadows on the Salton Sea
Here with my father’s family had settled
From Arkansas to the Coachella valley
Like the Grapes of Wrath in the ‘70s
My grandfather packed dates
Near the polo grounds
And he sometimes mowed people’s lawns
Grandma was a housekeeper in Palm Springs
Or the Bermuda Dunes country club
One summer went to stay with cousins in Indio
They were fleeing poverty in Arkansas
My uncle was a hellfire Baptist minister
My cousin Norma Jean that's her name she was sweet
But her twin brothers trouble for the law
The twins stole a car
And they took me to watch them
Burn it by the aqueduct
Then they robbed the neighbor’s house
I was frightened and ran away.
Never told my grandfather what they’d done
Dark haired Mary in the eighth grade
Her mother was from Mexico
Her father was a soldier
And she asked me to the dance
Sat in the bleachers just held hands
One slow dance in at the end
It rained and snowed a lot that winter
In the spring came a Super Bloom
The desert was a sea of purple and orange flowers
From Cabazon on down to Mexico