Selk’nam mythology tells us that natural phenomena, whether wind, snow, lightning, or earthquake, plus the very elements and each animal, were once human beings.
In Bariloche’s El Centro
a six-year-old girl
with a sequined hairband
and grime-smudged cheeks
squats on the flagged walk
outside a low-key McDonald’s.
She places an old greeting-card box
with one corner of the lid cut out
in front of her and quietly recites
a sing-song jingle designed to pull
on heart-strings, open wallets.
Perhaps in some concealed spot
the girl’s adult handler—
Parent? Pimp? Captor? All three?—
keeps a callous eye on the girl
yet neither the street’s polícia
nor the shop owners next door
find anything strange or dangerous
about the girl, about her work.
Far to the south in El Calafate
canines are treated like kings.
lounging where they please
whether in hot summer sun
or shade of tree-lined caminos.
The city pays their veterinary bills
and restauranteurs feed them
so predictably that the perros
return daily on schedule,
no urge left to savage in packs.
Abuelas need not fear walking
al mercado en la noche.
Will no one dote on the Bariloche beggar
as dearly as on any El Calafate cur?