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The Grandfather

Victor Manuel

El abuelo

Sentado en el quicio de puerta
El pitillo apagado entre los labios
Con la boina calada y en la mano
Una vara nerviosa de avellano
Que recuerda su frente limpia y clara
Quizá la primavera desojada
El olor de la pólvora mojada
O el sabor del carbón mientras picaba

El abuelo fue picador, allá en la mina
Y arrancando negro carbón quemó su vida

Se ha sentado el abuelo en la escalera
A esperar el tibio sol de madrugada
La mirada clavada en la montaña
Es su amiga más fiel nunca le engaña

Temblorosa la mano va al bolsillo
Rebuscando el tabaco y su librito

Y al final como siempre murmurando
Que María le esconde su tabaco

El abuelo fue picador, allá en la mina
Y arrancando negro carbón quemó su vida

The Grandfather

Sitting on the doorstep
The cigarette extinguished between his lips
With the beret pulled down and in his hand
A nervous hazel stick
That recalls his clean and clear forehead
Perhaps the stripped spring
The smell of wet gunpowder
Or the taste of coal while he chipped

The grandfather was a miner, there in the mine
And by extracting black coal, he burned his life

The grandfather has sat on the stairs
To wait for the warm early morning sun
His gaze fixed on the mountain
It's his most faithful friend, never deceives him

Trembling hand goes to the pocket
Searching for tobacco and his little book

And in the end, as always, murmuring
That Maria hides his tobacco

The grandfather was a miner, there in the mine
And by extracting black coal, he burned his life