Translation of "A la izquierda del Roble" by Mario Benedetti to English

Has it ever happened to you, I wonder
but the Botanical Garden is a sleeping park
in which one can be tree or fellow man
with one condition, of course:
the city has to be far away and quiet

The secret is to lay on, say, an old stump
and to listen among the sounds carried by the wind
how through Millán and Reyes the horsecars gallop

Has it ever happened to you, I wonder
but the Botanical Garden has always had
a great propensity to dreaming
to have insects climb up one's legs
and to have melancholy drop down one's arms
until one clenches their fists, and traps it

After all, the secret is to peek upwards
and see the clouds battling for treetops
and see the nests battling for birds

Has it ever happened to you, I wonder
oh, but the couples that take off towards the Garden
arriving by cab, or dropping from the clouds
talk usually about important matters
while gazing zealously into their eyes
as if love were the shortest of tunnels
and they were peering through this love

Those two, for example, at the left of the oak
(I might also call it almond tree or araucaria
thanks to my forgetfulness of Pan & Linnaeus)
talk, and their own words
seem touched, and contemplate them
because not even the echoes reach me

Has it ever happened to you, I wonder
but it's beautiful to imagine what they're saying
particularly so if he bites a twig
and she leaves a sandal on the grass
particularly so if his bones are sad
and she wants to smile but can't

I imagine that the boy is saying
what is at times said in the Botanical Garden

Fall came yesterday
the Fall Sun
and I felt happy
like ages ago
How pretty you are
I love you
In my drowsy nights
one can hear the horns
the wind over the sea
and yet, that is
also silence
look at me like that
I love you
I work hard
add up
and file numbers
argue with idiots
I get distracted and I curse
give me your hand
now
now you know
I love you
I think of God sometimes
well, not many times
I'd rather not steal
His time
plus, He's far away
and you are here beside me
right now I'm sad
I'm sad and I love you
the time will pass
the road like a river
the helping trees
the heavens
and friends
and how fortunate
I love you
a long time ago I was a child
a long time ago it doesn't matter
taking chances was easy
like diving into your eyes
let me in
I love you
thank goodness I love you

Has it ever happened to you, I wonder
but it might happen that one suddenly realizes
that it's actually something more bleak
one of those loves of Tantalus and Chance
that God won't allow out of jealousy

Notice that he accuses her tenderly
and she leans on the bark
notice that he is highlighting memories
and misteriously she is dismayed

I imagine that the boy is saying
what is at times said in the Botanical Garden

You said it first
our love
was since the start
a dead child
Only at times
it seemed
able to live
able to defeat us
But the two of us
were so strong
That we left him
without blood
without a future
without a heaven
a dead child
no more
marvelous and cursed
he might have had a smile
like yours
sweet and deep
he might have had a sad soul
like mine
puny thing
Maybe with time
he would have learned
to unfold himself
to use the world
but children like that
dead full of love
dead full of fear
have a heart so big
they end up imploding
none the wiser
You said it first
our love
was since the start
a dead child
and such a hard and unobscured truth
such an easy truth what a pity
I thought he was a child
but he was instead a dead child
now what?
we can only
measure our faith, and remember
what we could have been
for him
who couldn't be ours
and what else?
maybe when a certain
twenty three of April and doom comes
you wherever you are
bring him flowers
for I will go with you too

Has it ever happened to you, I wonder
but the Botanical Garden is a sleeping park
that only wakes up with the rain

The last cloud has resolved to stay
and is now soaking us like happy vagabonds

The secret is to run with caution
as to not kill any beetle
and to not step on the shrooms that seize it
to swim, desperately

Hastily, I turn around and they're still there
the two of them at the left of the oak
eternal and hidden in the rain
sharing God knows what silences

Has it ever happened to you, I wonder
but when the rain falls on the Garden
only ghosts remain

You can leave
I am staying