He Had One Eye Rolling Crazy In His Head

Joe Ely: Gallo del Cielo





Carlos Saragosa
left his home
in Casas Grandes
when the moon was full
he had no money
in his pocket
just a locket of his sister
framed in gold
he headed for El Sueco
stole a rooster
named Gallo del Cielo
then he crossed
the Rio Grande
with that fighter
nestled deep
beneath his arm

Gallo del Cielo
was a warrior
born in heaven
so the legends say
his wings
they had been broken
he had one eye
rolling crazy in his head
he'd fought a hundred fights
and the legends say that
one night near El Sueco
they fought Cielo seven times
and seven times
he left brave roosters dead

hola my Teresa
i'm thinking of you now
in San Antonio
i have 27 dollars
and the good luck of
your picture framed in gold
tonight i'll put it all
on the fighting spurs
of Gallo del Cielo
then i'll return
to buy the land
Pancho Villa stole
from father long ago

outside of San Diego
in the onion fields
of Paco Monteverde
the Pride of San Diego
lay sleeping
on a fancy bed of silk
and they laughed
when Saragosa pulled
the one-eyed del Cielo
from beneath his coat
but they cried
when Saragosa walked away
with a thousand dollar bill

hola my Teresa
i'm thinking of you now
in Santa Barbara
i have 1500 dollars
and the good luck of
your picture framed in gold
tonight i'll put it all
on the fighting spurs
of Gallo del Cielo
then i'll return
to buy the land
Pancho Villa stole
from father long ago

now the moon
has gone to hiding
and the lantern light
spills shadows
on the fighting sand
a wicked black named Zorro
faces del Cielo in the night
and Carlos Saragosa
fears the tiny crack
that runs across
his rooster's beak
and he fears
that he has lost
the 50,000 dollars
riding on the fight

hola my Teresa
i'm thinking of you now
in Santa Clara
the money's on the table
i'm holding now
your good luck framed in gold
everything we dream of
is riding on
the spurs of del Cielo
i'll return to buy the land
that Villa stole
from father long ago

the signal it was given
and the roosters rose together
far above the sand
Gallo del Cielo sunk a gaff
into Zorro's shiny breast
they were separated quickly
but they rose
and fought each other
time and time again
and the legends all agreed
Gallo del Cielo fought the best

then the screams of Saragosa
filled the night outside
the town of Santa Clara
as the beak of del Cielo
lay broken like a shell
within his hand
and they say that Saragosa
screamed a curse upon
the bones of Pancho Villa
as Zorro rose up one more time
and drove del Cielo in the sand

hola my Teresa
i'm thinking of you now
in San Francisco
i have no money in my pocket
i no longer have
your locket framed in gold
i buried it last evening
with the bones
of my beloved del Cielo
i will not return
to buy the land that
Villa stole long ago

do the rivers
still run muddy
outside of my
beloved Casas Grandes?
does the scar upon
my brother's face
turn red when he hears
mention of my name?
do the people of El Sueco
still curse the theft
of Gallo del Cielo?
tell my family not to worry
i will not return
to cause them shame

--Tom Russell