Petra Narcisa

February 10th, I remember the fresh and promising afternoon
The fresh and promising afternoon
And on the back of Lagunazo, I came whistling without hurry
Breaking the artemisia buds with the stirrups

Around 6 o'clock, I arrived at the stable
I arrived at the stable
There was a well-known dance at the Cocuiza ranch
From a corner of the room, a joropo came in the breeze

I got off Lagunazo and adjusted my cotiza
And with just one look, I passed a light search
I passed a light search
The clay pot in a corner, the lamp on the shelf

A candle in the courtyard and a boy tending to it
Smell of roasted meat, calm wood, and brushwood
The flame dances happily and the smoke rises to the sky
And the smoke rises to the sky

I was in love, crazy for Petra Narcisa
The flower of that neighborhood and the daughter of Guisa

Brunette with lined eyes, black and smooth hair
A face of beautiful lines that blushes when she sees me

With a carnation in her lips and a white lily in her smile
Shy, young, and beautiful but very elusive
One of those who slip away by the sleeve of the shirt

At midnight when the dance intensifies
When the dance intensifies
My feet danced alone, my mind improvises alone
Love came out of my soul with a precise verse

And if it hadn't been like that, my chest would have burned
My chest would have burned
I told Petra, for you, my heart agonizes
The charm you have shakes and hypnotizes me

It shakes me to the ground, drags me, and disables me
When I walk through the savannah, my memory sees you
My memory sees you
That keeps throwing in the clouds with a faint smile

That makes my soul tremble and seeing you paralyzes me
Wishing to drink your breath that lifts and invigorates me
And you know that love arrives silently and unannounced
Arrives silently and unannounced

Even Saint Anthony, I asked him the day before yesterday at mass
That you be my partner with sick devotion
When the music ended, the mestiza approached me
With a calabash full of roasted meat and sausage

Of roasted meat and sausage
And feeling her breath, I felt a sting
That just by telling it still torments me
She told me to agree with Black Maria Luisa

I spoke with her later, we left the idea concise
With the first light of day under a coppery dawn
I mounted her on my Lagunazo, got lost in a dust cloud
And so I took her away, fleeing on Ash Wednesday