Cuando estuve en el mar era marino

by Jaime Sabines, translated by Katya Rascovsky

CUANDO ESTUVE EN EL MAR ERA MARINO….

Cuando estuve en el mar era marino
este dolor sin prisas.
Dame ahora tu boca:
me la quiero comer con tu sonrisa.

Cuando estuve en el cielo era celeste
este dolor urgente.
Dame ahora tu alma:
quiero clavarle el diente.

No me des nada, amor, no me des nada:
yo te tomo en el viento,
te tomo del arroyo de la sombra,
del giro de la luz y del silencio,

de la piel de las cosas
y de la sangre con que subo al tiempo.
Tú eres un surtidor aunque no quieras
y yo soy el sediento.

No me hables, si quieres, no me toques,
no me conozcas más, yo ya no existo.
Yo soy sólo la vida que te acosa
y tú eres la muerte que resisto.

   WHEN I WAS AT SEA IT WAS MARINE…

When I was at sea it was marine
this pain without haste.
Give me your mouth now:
I want to eat it with your smile.

When I was in the sky it was celestial
this urgent pain.
Give me your soul now:
I want to sink my teeth in it.

Give me nothing love, give me nothing:
I drink you up in the wind,
I drink you from the stream of shadow,
from the turn of light and silence,

from the skin of things
and from the blood with which I raise time.
You are the source although you deny it
And I am the thirsty one

Don’t talk to me, if you want, don’t touch me,
cease to know me, I no longer exist.
I am only the life that haunts you
And you are the death that I resist.

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