El Gran Salt

I made a jump, a strange jump
That lifted us up more than three feet.
There was smoke, so thick and white,
And inside, you and me and my big jump.
We were scared looking down,
We were scared and we stayed
Half embraced, feeling the jump
Dripping between my hands.
The eyewitnesses
Say "What a jump, damn what a jump!";
The mothers tell the kids
"Don’t get close, he made a jump!".
It was you and me with the world apart
And now it’s the world that will save us
Among the ruins of this jump,
That it was you and me and we’re not that anymore.
This thing falls, this thing falls!
I shout your name through the white smoke.
"Hold on tight and, if you can, fall
With both feet and on flat ground."
And we deserved a goodbye
More worthy of being remembered
And not this seeing ourselves shattered
By the force of gravity.

You, jumper who jumps jumps!
You, professional climber!
You, forever wandering friend
Who defines yourself by your jumps!
How easy it all is! How good you are!
In your lit-up eyes
You can already sense the vastness
Of a whole world at your fingertips.
The night will fall, the night will fall,
The night will fall and you’ll unfold
A sweet and worn-out dream
Of the jumpers who jump jumps.
And until tomorrow, and until tomorrow,
And outside, there’s a gentle breeze,
And the jumper will fall asleep
With a blank face,
With a jumping face.