Pa'l Amigo

For the Buddy

Pa'l Amigo

Man of salt and quebrachoHombre de sal y quebracho
Don Pedro Evaristo DíazDon Pedro Evaristo Díaz.
Welcomes strangersRecibe a los forasteros
With his two hands extendedCon sus dos manos tendidas.
And a galloping horseY un sonkoy galopeador
Who understood lifeque supo entender la vida.

Simple thatched ranchRancho quinchado sencillo
Every son, every grandsonTodo hijo, todo nieto.
Of poverty on the outsideDe pobreza por afuera
And hope withiny de esperanza por dentro.

Has a wall of dreamsTiene una pared de sueños
And another full of secretsy otra llena de secretos.

Ranch with a ceibo at the doorRancho con ceibo en la puerta
Voices, guitars, and singingvoces, guitarras y canto.
Sometimes laughter and storiesA veces risas y cuentos,
Other times drums and criesotras bombos y llantos.

It's Don Pedro's ranchEs el rancho de Don Pedro,
Fellow countryman of Calicantopaisano de Calicanto.

IIII

His face paints the raceSu rostro pinta la raza
Of Santiago deep in the mountainsde Santiago monte adentro
And his eyes are urpilasy son urpilas sus ojos
Always flying to the pastsiempre volando al recuerdo.
Years of effort and workAños de empeño y labor,
Sowing music and versessembrando música y versos.

In more than one gatheringEn mas de una salamanca
Don Pedro left lit upDon Pedro dejó encendidas
Just with drumsa puro bombo no más
His evening versessus coplas atardecidas.

And at night box after boxY de noche caja y caja,
Dawn vidalasvidalas amanecidas.

I know these versesYo se que son pobrecitos
That evoke you are poorestos versos que te evocan.
They are from deep inside the heartSon de adentro ´el corazón
And burst out of my mouthy me estallan por la boca.

Don Pedro Evaristo DíazDon Pedro Evaristo Díaz
You filled your cup with lovede amor llenaste tu copa.