En El Corsito Del Barrio

I met her on the Alsina bridge
In the neighborhood corset.
I was dressed like a convict
And she was a clown.
We played with streamers,
Then with confetti,
And after chatting a bit
I nervously confessed:
I’d like to see you, ma’am,
Without your red mask...

And no, she wasn’t ugly at all,
The four older sisters
Had to be thrown out, oh my!

Why did I even ask for it?
I almost fainted,
Her skin was wrinkled
And she’d lost an eye.
Her lip was split,
She was missing five teeth,
And a big, grinning mouth
As wide as a mailbox,
Her nose like a bell pepper,
And hair even on her forehead.

She came closer, sweetly
While opening her arms.
I dodged the swipe,
And she kept being sweet.
When I saw her getting dangerous
I said in a charming tone:
- Tomorrow, my shining sun,
Where can I find you?
- Tomorrow? At the Sangrilá,
I’m the elephant woman.

Neither Dracula, the monkey man,
Nor Frankenstein were anything,
I burst out laughing
And she popped like a balloon.
A moment later came the ruckus,
I saw her raise her hand,
I closed my eyes, brother,
I don’t know what happened next,
I’m in room ten...
(Oh mama, how the plaster stings)
At the Italian hospital.