Tajo a Tajo (Milonga)

No longer do the bass strings
Of my guitar sound like before
And they don't sing arrogantly
They have become grumpy
Lazy and pampered
They don't obey my command
And when I try, from time to time
To make them sound proud
They vibrate sadly, emotive
Like souls that are suffering

The poles of my ranch
Have leaned out of boredom
And they have worn out the roof
Pushing against the gusts
The rough weather has torn it apart
In the corners
And the fence of thorns
That surrounded the house
Any critter can pass through it
Because it no longer has thorns

The whole countryside has surrendered
To the harshness of the thistle field
And has turned the cowboy's land
Into a sieve
The livestock, of course, has gone
Fleeing from those hardships
The singing birds
No longer come near the talas
And now bad omens are born
Where flowers used to bloom

What was once a flowery field
And a perfumed clover
What was a beautiful herd
Of the proud countryman
The ranch that was my nest
Where I lived my loves
Everything has succumbed to the hardships
Of time that, cut by cut!
Is dragging me downhill
To embitter my pains