Cuando Nombro La Poesía Ali Primera (English Translation) Lyrics

When I mention poetry, I mention the man
Two old shoes and Carlota
And a terrible hatred for the poorly made boot
Ill-born and ill-bred in the north.

When I mention poetry, I mention the man
Two verses on my mother’s chest
A first cigarette of a student
And a drunk staggering in the street.

Not all Sundays are
For rest they are not
And on a Sunday a bird of ours
And beautiful flew away
I felt the tremendous flaps
In the cold moonlight of pain

I mention Whitman,
Neruda and Vallejo
And the verse written
On the wall of a prison
I mention a river pregnant with canoes
The betrayed poetry of Andrés Eloy
I mention a river…

I mention Rafael Alberti and his seafaring poetry
I mention Hernández and García Lorca
And the human gospel of Ernesto Cardenal,
I mention Gabriela from Chile
And the simple verse of Martí
I mention the bird that brings us good tidings
I mention them all when I sing to life
And to Guillén’s brunette poetry.

When I mention poetry, I mention the man
Compassionate heart friendly hand
When I mention him
I also feel dizzy and cry
For our main
Non-renewable natural resource

When I mention poetry, I mention the man
Solitude with her bouquet of roses
And a triumphant flight of butterflies
Over a town singing in a major key

I mention the blooming skin of my land
And the peace sustained by the plow
I mention the path where hope sleeps
And the ear of corn kissed by a Latin American wind.