Los Mares Vacíos
Patricio Manns
The Empty Seas
Take the nets and let's go as the storm is coming.
We have to go out tonight
Or we'll die without bread.
You are already a man and with me
Shoulder to shoulder you will fish.
The cold moon floating laid itself over the sea
And the fists of foam
Shine on the rock already.
Mother: let them go
Or we'll die without bread.
(The tall sails opened over the chest of the sea
And the somber horizon
Covered them with immensity:
'Silver and foam fishing, our nets will catch.'
But the night betrays
With the rumor of a storm
And after hard clouds, the clarity broke.
Mother: let them go:
They will return at dawn.)
A lightning cut the shadow with crystal knives
The fire burst whistling
On the face of the sea.
High waves burned
In the directions of salt.
What a dark night they crossed with the net that seeks bread
So that hunger wouldn't enter
Through the door of your home.
Mother: let them go
For they are children of the sea.
They left on a Tuesday, on what Tuesday will they return?
Keep a candle lit
To see them when they arrive.
There will never be a darker night
Than the one the sea gave them.
The storm is calming down,
The sky opens in clarity
And high above, a star and another are shining.
Mother, sleep: I'll watch over:
The sea is so empty.
* in the version of the album
