puro border/puro babel

I was born between cotton fields up north in Twitty Texas
sin embargo soy fronteriza bien hecha
from a satellite the Panhandle might as well be la frontera
just look at a map of the Americas and see for yourself
so I am from here but not from here
ni de aqui ni de alla it’s true
some cotton chopper cut my roots in back in Twitty
I left parts of my spirit in Navajo country and Santa Fe
los campesinos planted chunks of me in Mesilla and Hatch
what’s left of me blows in the winds aqui en la frontera
la cultura fronteriza es bien rica aquí en El Paso
pero la vida fronteriza es bien loca tambien
tu sabes--el idioma fronterizo es spanglish
pero the clerks en el centro hablan koreano y espanol
the waiters en el otro llado hablan español y ingles
the artists speak english pero they swear in Spanish
las chicanitas are afraid to go to Juárez
West Siders are afraid of El Segundo
tecatos hang out on corners and teach college
las cholitas grow up to be secretaries and lawyers
outlaws have run for the border since the butcher Oñate
Johnny Cash got high and got busted in El Paso
Steve McQueen came to die in El Paso
Marilyn Monroe waited for her divorce in El Paso
gunslingers get gunned-down in Juárez and El Paso
rich ladies drive south over the bridge for viagra and cocktails
poor girls walk north over the bridge to clean house and watch kids
los pobres sell regalitos in Juárez but demand pennies in El Paso
otra vez la cultura fronteriza es muy rica
ademas la cultura fronteriza es bien loca
as for me--soy fronteriza mas loca que nada