Balboa Park

He lay his blanket underneath the freeway As the evening sky grew dark Took a sniff of toncho from his coke can And headed through Balboa Park Where the men in their Mercedes Come nightly to employ In the cool San Diego evening The services of the border boys He grew up near the Zona Norte With the hustlers and smugglers he hung out with He swallowed their balloons of cocaine Brought 'em across the Twelfth Street strip Sleeping in a shelter If the night got too cold Runnin' from the migra Of the border patrol Past the salvage yard 'cross the train tracks and in through the storm drain they stretched their blankets out 'neath the freeway and each one took a name there was X-man and Cochise Little Spider his sneakers covered in river mud they come north to California end up with the poison in their blood He did what he had to do for the money sometimes he sent home what he could spare the rest went to high-top sneakers and toncho and jeans like the gavachos wear One night the border patrol swept Twelfth Street a big car come fast down the boulevard spider stood caught in its headlights got hit and went down hard As the car sped away Spider held his stomach limped to his blanket 'neath the underpass lie there tasting his own blood on his tongue closed his eyes and listened to the cars rushin' by so fast