Paciencia Y Fe

Calor! Calor! Calor!
Calor! Calor! Calor!
Ay, Mama!
The summer's hottest day
Paciencia y fe
Paciencia y fe

It was hotter at home in La Vibora
The Washington Heights of Havana
A crowded city of faces the same as mine
Back as a child in La Vibora
I chased the birds in the plaza
Praying, "Mama, you would find work"
Combing the stars in the sky for some sort of sign
Ay, Mama, so many stars in Cuba
En Nueva York, we can't see beyond our streetlights
To reach the roof, you gotta bribe the supa
Ain't no Cassiopeia in Washington Heights
But ain't no food in La Vibora

I remember nights, anger in the streets, hunger at the windows
Women folding clothes, playing with my friends in the summer rain
Mama needs a job, Mama says we're poor
One day, you say, "Vamos a Nueva York"
And Nueva York was far, but Nueva York had work
And so we came
And now I'm wide awake
A million years too late
I talk to you, imagining what you'd do
Remembering what we went through

Nueva York! Ay, Mama!
It wasn't like today, you'd say
Paciencia y fe (Paciencia y fe)
Paciencia y fe (Paciencia y)
Fresh off the boat in America
Freezing in early December
A crowded city in 1943
Learning the ropes in America
En español, I remember
Dancing with Mayor Laguardia
All of society welcoming Mami and me! Ha!

You better clean this mess!
Paciencia y fe
You better learn ingles!
Paciencia y fe
You better not be late
You better pull your weight
Are you better off then you were with the birds of La Vibora?

Sharing double beds, trying to catch a break, struggling with English
Listening to friends, finally got a job working as a maid
So we cleaned some homes, polishing with pride
Scrubbing the whole of the Upper East Side
The days into weeks, the weeks into years
And here I stayed (Paciencia y fe, Paciencia y fe, Paciencia y fe)

And as I feed these birds
My hands begin to shake
And as I say these words
My heart's about to break (and ay, Mama!)
And ay, Mama!
What do you do when your dreams come true? (and ay, Mama!)
I've spent my life inheriting dreams from you
I made it through, I survived, I did it
Now, do I leave or stay?

Alright, Mama, okay
Paciencia y fe! (Calor! Calor! Calor!)