Variations on a Theme by Federico García Lorca

Verde que te quiero verde,
verde cuando pienso en ti.
Sage, hunter, jade, how I want you,
whenever I think of you, green.
Green as the spray of seafoam stirred
by the hooves of headless horses.
Green as the prick of pine needles,
sharpened by the bite of winter.
Green like envy, that sickly demon,
who sinks his claws deep in your shoulders.
Green when I think of you,
when I miss you, I miss you,
Verde cuando te extraño verde.

Ella sigue en su baranda,
soñando en la mar amarga.
I, too, dream bitter tonight.
I pace circles around a streetlight,
my eyes are flecks of ice.
I am a shadow at the waist prowling,
scraping like sandpaper on concrete.
May the stars of frost find me well,
breathing in bare brittled bones.
May you return my body to the sea
when I have fallen cold for the last time.
Verdes olas, estrellas verdes.
Bésala en su baranda esta noche
—los vientos del tiempo no esperan a nadie.