El Caballo Que No Tuve

The Horse I Never Had

El Caballo Que No Tuve

To the horse I never had, I called it distanceAl caballo que no tuve yo le llamaba distancia
But distances I found and there my horse didn't walkPero distancias hallé y ahí mi caballo no andaba
Then I understood that it was called hopeEntonces yo comprendí que se llamaba esperanza
Fierce to find it in the field, little horse from nowhereFiero pa' hallarlo en el campo caballito de la nada
I myself made a saddle with the leather of my nostalgiaYo mismo le hice un recáu con cueros de mi nostalgia

And some stirrups of never and a little cushion of tearsY unos estribos de nuncas y un cojinillo de lágrimas
On a nail on the wall, I had a blanket hangingEn un clavo en la pared tenía colgada una manta
That I weaved from illusions and embroidered with wordsQue la tejí de ilusiones y bordadas de palabras
The times I covered myself with that old blanketLas veces que me tapé con aquella vieja manta

Every winter was a rose that time gave meCada invierno fue una rosa que el tiempo me regalaba
I picked up the sun from the frost reflected in the morningRecogí el sol de la escarcha reflejáu en la mañana
And I tied it to the four winds of my imagined blanketY lo até a los cuatro vientos de mi imaginada manta
So that my little horse of hope would proudly shinePa' que luciera orgulloso mi caballito esperanza

For the horse I never had, I cut piece by piecePal caballo que no tuve, macetié guasca por guasca
From the leather of a gust of wind, one of those without a soulDel cuero de un ventarrón de esos que no tienen alma
With the ring that the dew makes to the early moonCon la argolla que el rocío le hace a la luna temprana
I made a light lasso as if to rope a soulHice un lazo livianito como pa' pialar un ánima

The halter and the muzzle I took from a calandriaEl cabresto y el bozal se los quité a una calandria
Because I dreamed that with a whistle my freight was enoughPorque soñé que a mi flete con un silbo le sobraba
I made a whip of clover with silver initialsMe hice un rebenque de trébol con iniciales de plata
That I took from a little stream among nacre stonesQue saqué de un arroyito entre piedritas de nácar

All for my horse not to walk sparinglyTodo pa' que mi caballo no ande mezquinando alzada
And I even cut a flower to put it as a markY hasta he cortao una flor pa' ponerle como marca
But the years passed, and hope never arrivedPero pasaron los años, y nunca llegó esperanza
Little horse I never had, your delay no longer mattersCaballito que no tuve, ya no importa tu tardanza

The clothes, the clothes I gave away and I have nothing leftLas pilchas, las pilchas las regalé y ya no me queda nada
To whom do I make a saddle with a little cushion of tearsA quién le pongo un recáu con cojinillo de lágrima
And a blanket of illusions and embroidered with wordsY una manta de ilusiones y bordada de palabras
The same ones I didn't have to defend you, hopeEsas misma que no tuve pa' defenderte esperanza

When you were far away and I called you distanceCuando andabas a lo lejos y te llamaba distancia
And today, and today that I already traveled you, it has not served me at allY hoy, y hoy que ya te recorrí, no me ha servido de nada
Even used you to die from inside my soulSi hasta te usé pa' morir desde adentro de mi alma
For having a heart and for calling you hopePor tener un corazón y por llamarte esperanza