Embriágame con tus besos alma mía
besa mis labios
desenreda mis cabellos con tus dedos de seda
y descubre con tus manos, el anent de sekut
desata, el makich de mis tobillos
el shakap, de mis caderas
desnuda estoy y espero por ti.
Habita mi casa
tómame con la suavidad de tus letras
y quema mis miedos
con el fuego de tu piel
Recoge mis pasos
con los remos de tu balsa
acércate a las orillas de mi playa
es el puerto de naikim
Embriágame con tus besos
con la chicha masticada
y la saliva envenenada
con la sabia de Arutam
No te alejes vida mía
despertar quiero
en tus brazos de algodón
y sumergirme
en la profundidad de tu abismo
y quedar dormida,
en la piedra de tus ojos.
Get me drunk with your kisses, my dear
kiss my lips
untangle my locks with your silken fingers
and discover, with your hands, the sacred scented song of the sekut [1]
untie the anklet [2] from my leg
and the belt [3] from my hips
bare, I await you.
Dwell in my home
take hold of me, with the tenderness of your words
and set my fears ablaze
with the fire of your skin
Follow my footsteps
with the oars of your raft
approach the shores of my beach
the harbor of sand [4]
Make me drunk with your kisses
with the chicha [5]
and saliva soaked [6]
in the holy power of Arutam [7]
Don't go away, my love
I want to wake up
in your arms of cotton
and dive
into the depths of your abyss
and fall asleep
on the stone of your eyes.
[1] The sekut is a variety of vanilla that grows in the Amazon. The anent in this caseis the sacred song released by a plant through its fragrance for a loved one. As María Clara explains, “Anentfor the Shuar woman is like a love song, a ballad, or what my mother used to sing at sunset while waiting for my father, to prevent him from going far away or abandoning the home, to remind him that she was his true love, for that she used the sekut, which is a little plant that grows deep within the jungle. It’s like a tiny palm with white flowers and an exquisite perfume that fills you with passion and reaches your being… that’s what my dear grandmother in heaven used to say. And they say, that only when a loved one who has passed away loves you deeply, does the plant release its fragrance. In years past, the Shuar women placed it between their breasts to smell nice. Now, every time I am in the jungle and I smell that perfume, my mother is there by my side.”
[2] The makich is a ceremonial anklet used for healing as well as dancing and warding away evil spirits. The anklet is made of seeds and makes a rattling sound.
[3] The shakap is worn around the waist, much like a coin belt worn by belly dancers, but made of seeds, and makes a similar jangly sound. It has a similar ceremonial and healing purpose as the makich.
[4] The word naikim is used in the original. It is a Shuar word that means sand.
[5] In the Shuar culture, the chicha masticada is prepared only by women, and is a fermented maize drink made by chewing and spitting. Here, María Clara specifies chicha masticada to differentiate it from other types of chicha which are not made using the traditional method.
[6] She uses the term envenenada, but here it does not mean poisoned, and she was clear to state that there should be no negative connotation in the translation, so I have used soaked, but steeped is another option.
[7] Here, I have added the word holy to convey that Arutam is considered to be a holy spirit.
