María Serena mía
Alfredo Zitarrosa
My serene Maria
(Milonga song)
My serene Maria, my baby
you sing and my sorrows dissipate.
My serene Maria, girl and chain
when you sing, the plants grow
and rise towards the sun.
My serene Maria, magician and painter
toss me a card of dawn colors:
I want to know which is your doll
the saddest, most loved, and secret.
Your toucan has toy eyes
a dry bird flies adrift
but you have already given it a life
all yours without hunger or wound.
My serene Maria, tell me how to live
without hunger and without eating:
little chingolita with a beak of tortoiseshell
you already know it from being born a woman.
My serene Maria, you go in my river
your path may not be mine.
Your boat will land one day
I want you to smile when you disembark.
Because you are the species that grows
hands, feet, and tremor of love that are
eyes and thought and pain
faith and joy, my love and lord, your love,
my love!
(Punctuation, versification, and spelling are by Alfredo Zitarrosa)
