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No quiero hablar / I don't want to talk




A wonderful friend, Eduardo Castro, translated a poem I wrote into Spanish. Then I lost the email for ages - but I finally found it. I so love the way it reads in Spanish. Thank you again Eduardo for doing this.



 I don't want to talk
No quiero hablar



At the local milongas,
En las milongas locales

 surrounded by good friends,
rodeado de buenos amigos

 it's very common to hear,
es muy común escuchar

 How's work?
¿Cómo te va en el trabajo?

 How are things going?
¿Cómo van las cosas?

 What's new with you?
¿Qué hay de nuevo con tigo?



I don't mean to be evasive.
No pretendo evadir.

 I really do want to be connected.
Realmente quiero estar conectado.

 To let people know how I am.
Dejarle saber a la gente como estoy.

 I am grateful to be cared for.
Agradesco que se preocupan por mí.



It's just that the milonga is . . .
Es que la milonga es…

 life/safe/hidden/revealed
vida / seguridad / un secreto / revelado.



. . . too many cliches to finish that sentence.
. . . demasiados clichés para terminar la frase.

 Too many words and not enough meaning.
Muchas palabras sin sentido suficiente

 That's the real problem right there.
Ese es el problema verdadero allí mismo

 Too many words.
Muchas palabras.



At the milongas, for a few hours,
En las milongas, por unas horas,

 I am not haunted by my past,
No estoy obsesionado por mi pasado,

 or worried for my future.
o preocupado por mi futuro.

 I am human.
Soy humano.

 a whole human being,
un ser humano completo,

 moment to moment,
de momento a momento,

 tanda to tanda.
de tanda a tanda.



So just sometimes,
Así que sólo a veces,

 I don't want to talk.
No quiero hablar.



Please know that I am grateful.
Por favor, comprendan que estoy agradecido.

 But let the music tell my story.
Pero dejen que la música cuente mi historia.

 And I'll dance the answers to your questions
Y voy a bailar las respuestas a sus preguntas

 whether I mean to or not.
aunque la quiera contar o no.

Comments

Tangocommuter said…
Curiously, in Spanish it sounds like a tango. 'No quiero hablar' certainly sounds like the name of a tango...
February 27, 2011 at 12:49 AM
Marika said…
Tangocommuter, it really does sound like a tango, doesn't it?
February 28, 2011 at 7:08 AM
Mark said…
Nice poem, Mari.
March 1, 2011 at 2:41 PM
Christine--RHP said…
What a wonderful poem, Mari--you nailed it..

I met Eduardo this weekend in Tucson--what a sweetie! We had some great dances, and I and my local friends enjoyed his company immensely...
March 9, 2011 at 5:15 PM
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