Campo Adentro

Cattle with grass in their mouths
Lying down on the hillsides
Crackling weeds
Releasing flowers into the air
In the distance, a hidden partridge sings
And the cattle pay attention
To my way of whistling

Valleys, streams, and bushes
Hills and wetlands
Roads and pastures
Hills in between
The bit jingles
The good horse snorts
Damp trot in the dew
Sweating under the saddle blanket

The herd grazing
In the fine field of the coast
And time finds an answer
In what is born, lives, and dies
And so life goes on
Gathering from these corners
The wisest of lessons
In every event that occurs

A bull chewing on a bone
Snout raised, drooling
The ostriches in a flock
Foal with dark fur
Showing the brand on the hide
The forelock down to the muzzle
And a caracara returns to the nest
In the shade of a bull's horn

Far from the ranch and the outpost
No wire fences in sight
Smell of grass and wetlands
Birds singing and streams
Tag, hide-and-seek
Following the deep ravine
Which is the border of my world
With a pitanga customs house

Time lies down in the field
The body wears out the saddles
The soul closes the rodeo
Things of the field, no more
Memories that life brings
Stepping in the shadow in its pace
Like the coils of a lasso
When the herd disperses

I come back whole on horseback
Soul, dreams, thoughts
Eyes with dust from the winds
Body twisted and sore
Soul of a fallen ranch
And distances that cannot be reached
Dreams drooling hopes
About the beloved memory