Richard Shindell

Che Guevara T-Shirt


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Unburdened of their passengers

The taxis have all scattered

The hawkers move their tables out

They?ll be selling no more leather

The Oslo Queen is set to sail

From the Port of Buenos Aires

The ropes are thrown and the big horn moans

As she slips out of the harbor


The stowaway is keeping still

In the dark of his container

With his blanket and his flashlight

And a picture of his sweetheart

He?s rationing his batteries

But right now he can?t resist her

Standing there with her long brown hair

In that Che Guevara t-shirt


As the contents of his wallet show

His plan?s a little sketchy

Three hundred bucks and the bad address

Of a cousin in Miami

In a couple months with a little luck

He?ll be wiring home some money

And even if they send him back

It?ll make a damn good story


Late at night he ventures out

Each time a little farther

Emboldened by his wanderlust

His boredom, and his hunger

Til he?s standing out on the open deck

Searching for La Cruz del Sur

But by-and-by the sky he knows

Has yielded to another


The moon shines on the shipping lanes

Off the coast of Venezuela

And as he looks out at the oilers

Riding heavy up to Texas

He sings a little to himself

Luna, luna, luna llena

While the moon, a word he?s yet to learn,

Betrays him to the cameras


Now he?s somewhere in Dade County

And six weeks without a lawyer

On the basis of the evidence

They could keep him there forever

The guy with the cuban accent says

?Do you recognize this picture??

And there she is with her long brown hair

And that Che Guevara t-shirt


Writer/s: Richard Shindell