La Muerte del Rucio Moro [English translation]

I can't be, my friend!

My days were darkened,

My joy took flight

When I least expected it.

A sad morning, I felt losing my treasure,

My horse "Rucio Moro1" died,

The one that I always rode it.

They found him dead in the paddock,

In the paddock, with the broken neck;

It seems that some lightning

Struck him directly.

Who would imagine

That, to my little horse

Something bad was waiting for him,

To take his life,

Leaving my soul in mourning.

Having heard the news, I ran immediately

Seeing how the stable was a little lonely,

I arrived at the place where my horse was,

I saw the impacts of a lightning

In the middle of four palm trees.

But on the bank of the river,

The mare "Zaina2" galloped

With other beasts,

Moving in circles, neighing,

And very desperate.

Poor of my horse Rucio!

Kneeling and with my head down.

When I went to close his eyes

Great tears streamed from him.

The breeze came to dismount hopes

While a white heron

Was seen in the creek,

A limpkin sang on the top of a tree

And a sad paraulata3 silenced the savannah.

In the sands of the river, my Rucio Moro

Left his legs marked

When he went with his mare

To frisk on the beach.

The rope of my love,

Of my love

Appeared ruptured

For a few pulls

By a twist of fate.

A "goodbye friend" came from my heart,

I felt great desolation

When I turned my back on him.

A big hole

Where his body could fit,

And on top of the pile of dirt

Put my hat "pelo e 'guama"4.

Why do I want the morning dew?

My horse Rucio,

Moisten my prayer

And the dawn of time

Give him his early grace.

Let the little birds

That come from the mountain

Bring serenade for him,

So that his black path

Becomes in a feat.

The afternoon fell

Painted in red,

How many moons, how many suns

Presaged my nostalgia!

The Goldfinch that trumpeted

My joy went away,

Oh, piece of my life,

Remnant of my childhood.

Cherub of my love,

Of my love,

Closeness of my distance.

How much I wanted to take

The fragrance from the apple mint!

I confine myself in despair

Of that star

That flickers and moves,

He who dies slowly

Molded to my hope.

My horse Rucio, you've gone out of the barnyard

Become a vigorous wind,

You broke the door lock.

You never thought

That death was waiting for you,

Your bad luck was the culprit

That led you to this trap.

Between canvases of memories,

My horse, your footprints are inert,

For your many friends

As a spring water of longings.

Today, your destiny is a bongo5,

A lost bongo

Of rowing and lever,

Stranded and abandoned

On the confines of Arauca River.

The saddles and the muzzle ask with pain:

Why the treacherous fate

Would not change his home?

The fence

That supported him,

Also said sadly:

The Coleo6 is mourning.

There is a murmur

From the 'Coso' to the 'Tapón'7

Between words cut off,

And the girls share

Golden ribbons like the rain.

With the summer evening,

There in the mountain

You can hear the cicada singing,

And the wind takes an afternoon

Of nostalgia in its wings.

The jagüey8 is offering fresh water,

While there, in the caney9,

My wife waits for me.

Arrogant scream of sovereign feeling,

You will not die

While the savannah exist.

From an eastern extremity,

In Venezuela,

By the Monagas state,

Until the impetuous Meta River

in the Colombian lands.

Going up the Orinoco River ,

The Apure, Casanare and the Vichada Rivers,

For you to die of old age

In the waves of the Arauca River.

1. It's the name of the horse.2. It's the name of the mare.3. It's a resident bird of South America (from Colombia and Venezuela)4. The "Sombrero pelo e' guama" or " "Sombrero de cogollo" is a hat made with the leaves of the date palms in Venezuela.5. A kind of canoe6. The "Coleo" or "Manga de coleo" is a traditional Venezuelan and Colombian sport, very similar to a rodeo. [Ref.]7. The "Juez de coso" and "Juez de tapón" are some of the judges that make up the coleo.8. Name of a tree that grows in the Venezuelan plains.9. It's a house/establishment made of wood and thatched roof or corrugated metal.