I Abandoned Her and I Didn’t Know - José Canet

Kneaded between the silver and gold

of serenades

and wild dance parties,

cradled by the sounds

of bandoneons,

this tango was born.

It was born to watch me suffer

in this horrific life

as my luck takes its dying gasps.

When I hear it sound out,

when I begin to dance to it,

I feel death come a bit closer.

And that is why tonight

I feel the rebuke

of my heart.

I abandoned her and I didn’t know

that I still loved her

and ever since she left

I feel cut off from my faith–

it is dying, dying…

I abandoned her and I didn’t know

that my heart was deceiving me

and now that I’ve come back to look for her

I can’t find her anymore…

without her love, where should I go?

---

José Canet (1915 - 1984) Argentina

Translated by Derrick Del Pilar

Source: Poesía de gotán: The Poetry of the Tango