Progress and Mortar
fugazza, fugazetta,
and a dozen empanadas
but cold won’t rate a tip
so it’s throttle up and get it to’em quick
he is headed for the corner of progress & mortar
geometry is destiny where the streets are named for viceroys
engineers and old boys
even poets, though only to a point
at the right angle corner of progress & mortar
the 113, The 113
his guardian, his nemesis
the 113, The 113
careening down the axis
but El Flaco’s not afraid
he’s seen it all before
no pasa nada….
he accelerates and swerves
dinner must be served
another near miss at the corner of progress & mortar
fugazza, fugazzeta…
Fugazza is an early 20th-century argentine adaptation of genovese focaccia, or fugassa in the genoese dialect. “Fugazetta” is a further local variation involving lavish amounts of cheese. I hope I’m getting that right. Like their porteño cousins, my friends in Genoa have very strong opinions about etymology and culinary authenticity. Do not get them started on pesto. But this is not a song about food.
Even before the pandemic, you could get just about anything delivered in Buenos Aires. At night the streets drone with two-stroke motos bringing ice cream, xanax, foreign exchange, emergency binkies, Fernet Branca, and of course pizza, the ne plus ultra of deliverables (though around here empanadas take the cake). But I worry about their riders. It’s a dangerous job, especially in a city of right-angle intersections, where stop lights are few and stop signs are viewed as non-entities.
At each 100 meter interval a driver must make a decision, based first on distance and rate of speed. If neither of those two parameters yields a clear result, other criteria are factored in. It’s a split-second sizing up of the opposing vehicle (make, model, condition), whether its driver appears hesitant or psych-out-able, or if they form part of a tight peloton (though conga line sometimes seems more accurate). Finally it comes down to power vs. chutzpah, the most extreme expressions of which are represented by buses and motos, respectively.
From the Office of Caveats, Qualifiers and Hedges: the audio in the post is what we call a demo - ie, a homemade first foray at an arrangement. If anyone's interested in tech details, I'm at your service.
I kinda like “Progress & Mortar” if you’re looking for an actual name for the newsletter.