Cafetín de Buenos Aires

As a little kid, I watched you from the outside
Like those things that are never reached
The nose against the glass
In a cold blue
That only later became living
Just like mine
Like a school of all things
Already as a kid, you gave me in amazement
The cigarette
Faith in my dreams
And a hope for love

How to forget you in this lament
Cafetín de Buenos Aires
If you are the only thing in life
That resembled my old lady
In your miraculous mix
Of wise men and suicides
I learned philosophy, dice, gambling
And the cruel poetry
Of not thinking about myself anymore

You gave me a handful of friends in gold
Who are the same ones who encourage my hours
(José, the one with the chimera)
(Marcial, who still believes and waits)
(And skinny Abel, who left us)
(But still guides me)
On your tables that never ask
I cried one afternoon for the first disappointment
I got used to sorrows
I drank my years
And I surrendered without fighting.