Mariposas [English translation]

Today comes to be like the fourth time I wait

since I know you'll never come again.

I've returned to being that song of the downpour

that made its hold on your waist almost legal.

And you appear in my window,

soft and small, with white wings.

I don't even breathe so that you'll sleep

and you won't leave.

What most curious ways

of remembering one has,

what most curious ways:

today I remember butterflies

that yesterday were only smoke,

butterflies, butterflies,

that emerged from the dark,

dancers, silent.

Your time is now a butterfly,

little white, thin, nervous ship.

Centuries ago they flooded one second

below the sky, above the world.

Your time is now a butterfly,

little white, thin, nervous ship.

Centuries ago they flooded one second

below the sky, above the world.

So you were in those pleasant afternoons,

so you were, a frenzied companion.

You were like those days when you are life

and everything you touch turns to spring.

Oh, butterfly, you are the soul

of the warriors who love and sing,

and you are the new being who sticks out through my throat.

What most curious ways

of remembering one has,

what most curious ways:

today I remember butterflies

that yesterday were only smoke,

butterflies, butterflies,

that emerged from the dark,

dancers, silent.

Your time is now a butterfly,

little white, thin, nervous ship.

Centuries ago they flooded one second

below the sky, above the world.

Your time is now a butterfly,

little white, thin, nervous ship.

Centuries ago they flooded one second

below the sky, above the world.

Your time is now a butterfly,

little white, thin, nervous ship.

Centuries ago they flooded one second

below the sky, above the world.

• Artist:Silvio Rodríguez