Aquarela Aporreada

Battered Watercolor

My eyes shed passages
That I carry inside my soul
And I paint in this watercolor
The simple and beautiful things
That have the essence of the countryside

The little bird of the thicket
A tough horse with a tied jaw
A bull sharpening its horn
For a fight in a bare field

The legendary fig tree
The hidden mango tree
Are portraits of Rio Grande
A beautiful, exuberant painting
In a tough way painted

The braid, dirty from the witches
Brushing against the mane holder
A stretched pampa leather
In a stake driver frame
The silhouette of a wild ox
Right in front of the setting sun

The blood that leaves a trail
Of death, wetting the pasture
And the bloodletter's dagger
The coin hitting the tin
A skilled shearer's good hand
The strong burst of the earth
In the blows of the soil packer

Axe splitting angico wood
On the back of a horseman
The sweet, rural scent
Of the cowboy's rice
On the wire fence grill

The lantern smoke
Spreading in the room
The lightning-fast accordion player
In a wild vaneira

The guitar-playing troubadour
With dagger, long hair, and poncho
A gathering of horse kickers
Of girls and horsemen
Ending in a gunshot

A bladder of fat
In the smoke of a burning log
The tuft of hair clinging
To the shed scissors
The grease that loosens the soil
Around the stove
Curdling the spit mark
Right there I see the way
Of things from my land

A well-prepared horse
For a Sunday in the starting gate
A rough bull, stubborn
In the cinch ring
The trust and the halter
In the hands of the godfather

I see the countryside toughened
In scars from lassos
That remain on the puller
Smell of burning hair
Hot, reddish brand

A cattle driver shouting commands
A fat, well-trained herd
The rumble of the herd
Gathering the young horses

Rooster crowing on the porch
Has the tone of my land
In this battered watercolor
A colt kicking the bars
Bucking through the fields

A Southern Lapwing singing
The black iron of the spur
A well-foamed mate
Before the break of dawn

It has the taste of this countryside
And the bitterness of it
A hillside remembers

These things for me!
In colors, ways, perfumes
That carry within them
The difference in the flame

Of everything that is ours
It stands out for its uniqueness
From the various flags of the countryside
The most gaucho stamp
Summarizes our flag

From the various flags of the countryside
The most gaucho stamp
Summarizes our flag