Mateando Com a Mamãe

It was today, just now
I made a mate so well
Brewed with such care and affection
That I remembered, nostalgically

Of the first mate I had
It was my mother who made it
And it was so sweet, sweet like she was and still is
I was a kid

A little piece of a person
And, to get a mate, I waited
Until it wasn't so strong and hot anymore
On the doorstep of the kitchen
Which had a beaten earth floor
Swept with a guanxuma broom
I would sit and ask in a whiny voice

Mom, can I have a mate?
And I waited until she thought
It was time to give a mate to her boy
How many life lessons I learned
In the sweet mate my mother made!
I learned obedience
I learned to have patience to wait my turn

Hold it with both hands!
Don't spill! Don't burn yourself!
Don't touch the bomba!
Those were the rules!

But so gentle, given with such tenderness
From my mother's mouth, I never heard a bad word
Never a harsh word
Guebuxa! How I miss it!

My childhood, my youth
And that innocent mate
That without being strong or hot
Was all I wanted

How radiant I felt and how important
With that mate gourd my mother handed me
And they were mates with milk, sometimes with honey
With rubbed sugar, with cinnamon

That my mother made, each day different from the last
My mother is old now
And she waits for hours, days sitting
Or sighing leaning on the window

That her son, a wandering gaucho
One of these days sits by her side
And takes some time to have mate with her

I will, mom, I promise
I'm tired of having mate alone too!
And when I swing my leg in your ranch
Let me brew a mate for us
A sweet mate
That I will sweeten for you with my affection