Mi árbol y yo [English translation]

My mother and I planted it

at the edge of the yard

where the house ends.

It was my father who brought it,

I would have been five years old,

and it was barely a twig.

When spring came

we prepared the ground well

and we covered it with water;

with little pieces of wood

we made a barrier

so that it wouldn't get damaged.

My tree sprouted, my childhood passed,

today beneath its shade which has grown so much,

we have memories, my tree and I.

With the passing of years

and my long trousers,

adolescence arrived for me;

it was in the shade of my tree,

one afternoon in summer,

that I lost my innocence.

Then it was time for studying

with frequent returns;

but in full awareness,

I was beginning a long journey

the ticket just one-way,

and so absence overcame me.

My tree was left behind, and time passed,

today beneath its shade which has grown so much,

we have memories, my tree and I.

Many years have passed,

and eventually I came back

to my dear home ground,

and at the edge of the yard,

there it was waiting for me

as one waits for a friend.

It seemed to smile at me

as if wanting to tell me

"Look... I'm full of nests",

that tree that we planted

forty-something years ago

when I was just a little boy.

The one that sprouted, and the time passed...

half my life remained with it...

today beneath its shade which has grown so much,

we have memories... my tree and I.