My father
won 1942's silver medal as New York's second-best high school Spanish
student, though he never picked it up. I don't know the language much beyond
the warning old subway trains used to have pasted on their doors: Aviso! La
via del tren subterraneo es peligroso! This warning was timely; but for
it, who knows? I might well have followed the way of the underground train and
so been lost forever. Given my virtual Spanishlessness, though, I had to check
that the musician Muerte de los Angels was not merely the Angel of Death. He isn’t;
that would be Los Angel del Muerte, whose offices take up most of a very tall
building in downtown Buenos Aires, with branch offices everywhere.
The Death
of Angels heads a much smaller operation. He is, in fact, its sole employee and
business is so slow -- how often do angels die? -- that he can conduct it from
his studio apartment. So far, he's received no official complaints about his pursuing
an alternate career playing the bandoneon.
DEATH OF ANGELS
In Spanish the Angel
of Death is called Angel de la Muerte
His headquarters
take up three floors in central Buenos Aires
And there are
branches pretty much everywhere. His brother
La Muerte de los
Angels, the Death of Angels, is less busy –
How often, after
all, do angels die? Still, Providence
Felt he was a good
idea and so he spends long days
Wearing a dark suit
and a string tie in a small office
Over a cafe. He used
to make plans involving trumpets
And fiery scythes.
He still has them in a lower drawer
But now intends, if
ever summoned, just to improvise.
On summer nights, he
goes downstairs and plays
Bandoneon with a
tango orillero group. Then, if you set a pin
Before you on the
table you may see angels dancing
Though they prefer
the more modern milonguero style.
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