Running Free

You are not me

and I- am not you-

and no one,

should try to frame you-

other than to idolize you!

Mi querido taíno...

I bare no witness

to the goods you

put on this here

¡Borikén! la patria, 

la isla linda...

¡LA ISLA DEL ENCANTO!

But all that means

mayani

to you!

¡Tú! 

    ¡y yo!

mi taíno-

hablamos 

lenguas muertas

¡Mi taíno!

I bare no witness

to the crimes committed

against you...

and you’d spit on me,

¡MI ANCESTRO!

Speaking their tongue

Wearing their clothes

walking in their ways...

¡Qué infamia!

¡mi ancestro, mi patria!

¡Qué me convertí en ello’!

The blood that runs

through my veins...

is filled with the spirit 

of your strength!

and-      you flow-

through the land,

like Yemayá through

the rivers of la isla. 

Mi ancestro, mi patria

I bare witness to-

what’s left of your home.

de lo que queda de tus ríos

de lo que queda de tus mares

de las montañas, del paraíso-

concretado

Mi indio querido, 

your spirit runs

through the shores,

still-

your voice is the wind

that carries the storm,

it’s the force in the forests

that remain,

Mi ancestro, amor

I’ll climb any-

I’ll climb every-

mountain top that remains

untouched-

and I’ll still find you-

I still feel you

running free