Mazatlán Shrimp a la Maria

It seems everyone who shares a recipe

   in México is named Maria. No matter.

      Perhaps those who pull the huge

          prawns from the bay are all

named Manuel. I stayed

    not long enough to know.

                    I stayed (quedarme) long enough to know

Marias never hoard secrets

   like the Matrons of San Marino

      but show you with their sharp cuchillos

        how to make butterflies of the shrimp

           the Manuels brought in that morning. Chijuajua queso

               pero mozzarella haceré this Maria

                 tells me. A whitish cheese slab inside the cut,

ample, please. Then bacon wrapped 'round like a Band-Aid

  to make it stay. Or use the silver cocktail spears, souvenirs

    you bought in Taxco. Marinate.Chili you think? No.Kahlua!

     Broil. Then a gravy of Cuantro de la Pacifico

      (orange liqueur) with only a little cornstarch.

        and what Kahlua is left, simmer

          on low. Maria suggests you plan

to cook enough to feed twice

  the number who will be at table,

    tsks, tsks that she is sorry when I get home

     I must make do with bland and scrawny

      camarónes from my supermarket

        rather than true Mazatláneros

         from her bay.

Spoon extra sauce over each serving.

Mas, Señora, por favor. Mas.


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Carolyn is the award-winning author of "Tracings" a chapbook of poetry, published by FinishingLinePress, available on Amazon.com. It was named Ten Best Reads of 2005 by The Compulsive Reader.com.