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Original lyrics
La Esposa Selkie
Me fui vistiendo gris sola y brillante hacia el mar
mi niño de sal, a mi hogar he de tornar
mas siempre sentirás en la noche junto a ti
mi lánguida nana sin son que una vez te hizo dormir
la fábula de una selkie y su antiguo pensar/
Tú padre, un pescador, quiso curarse el desamor
la tarde de luz en que bailando mi canción
desnuda como el sol, me arrancó sin pundonor
dos lágrimas, un por favor, el ruego amargo de mi voz
mi piel de nácar y la risa de mi corazón.
Cinco años y dos más su dulce esposa hube de ser
a cambio de que él jurara devolver mi piel
no era ése mi lugar, mi alma ríe donde el mar
y en el yermo de mi prisión, el brote de una flor creció
con aroma a vida en la luz de sus manos de lirón.
El tiempo se abatió sobre tu cuna de marfil
y en mis huesos rotos, mi cabello fino y gris,
el ansia de partir a mi cueva bajo el mar
y selkie en su inmensidad, contigo, mi niño, nadar
hasta el abismo cristalino de mi libertar.
La pena es que en mi mar tú no podrías respirar,
cantar, ni jugar con nuestras conchas de coral
qué no daría yo, mi tesoro, mi mortal
por engarzarte a mi piel tibia y tierno de animal
que en nueve lunas te sirvió de cuna y de mamá.
Y entonces se marchó, ya no volvió la vista atrás
bañando su piel de perla en la espuma del mar
tan sólo me dejó una historia que contar
y un dolor de corazón junto a una barca que abordar
memoria de la triste orilla de mi soledad.
Submitted by 
citlālicue on 2016-08-23
citlālicue on 2016-08-23Translation
The Selkie Wife
I went alone dressed in gray and bright towards the sea,
my child of the seawater1, to my home I must return,
but you'll always feel me close to you in the night,
my soundless feeble lullaby that once put you to sleep,
the fable of a selkie and her old way of thinking.
Your father, a fisherman; wanted to heal his heartbreak
in the light of the evening, dancing to my song
naked like the sun, he caught me with no self respect,
two tears, a plead, the bitter begging of my voice,
my pearl skin and the laughter of my heart.
For five years and two more, I was to be his sweet wife
in exchange he promised to return to me my skin,
that place wasn't my home, my soul laughs by the sea,
and in the wilderness of my prison, a flower bud grew
with the fragrance of life in the light of his sleepy hands.
Time passed over your crib made of ivory,
and in my broken bones, my hair fine and gray,
I yearned to leave to my cave beneath the sea,
for I was a selkie in my immensity, with you, my child;
to swim to the crystal clear abyss that was my freedom.
It's a pity that you won't be able to breathe in my sea,
nor sing, nor play with our coral shells,
what I wouldn't give, my treasure, my mortal (child),
to bind you to my warm and tender animal skin,
that for nine moons served as your crib, as your mother.
And so she left, she never turned to look behind
bathing her pearl skin in the foam of the sea,
all she left me was a story to tell and a pain in my heart
next to a small boat that I must face
the memory of the sad shore of my loneliness.
- 1. lit. 'child of (the) salt'
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Collections with "La Esposa Selkie"
| 1. | Songs of Legends, tale |
Ana Alcaide: Top 3
| 1. | Luna Sefardita |
| 2. | La Cantiga del Fuego - La Canción |
| 3. | El Pozo Amargo |
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