Por Eddie Vega
::: Este poema fue leído por su autor en el tributo a Juan Gabriel de la Orquesta Sinfónica de San Antonio, realizado en septiembre de este año. Eddie Vega es el actual poeta laureado de la ciudad.
When I was a child, I walked as a child, danced as a child
sang, as a child, up and down the living room: noa noa noa noa,
without a CLUE as to what I was singing about
but when I grew up I truly understood the lyrics written by
Alberto Aguilera Valadez
conocido por todo el mundo como: Juan Gabriel
Juan Gabriel sang the música de nuestras almas
de nuestros amores — De nuestros corazones — De nuestras emociones
de nuestras — TÍAS!
la musica de todas las tías, your mom, your older prima
anyone that offered free childcare and watched us
con radios tocando desde la cocina hasta la sala
so we could build highways with wooden blocks
fly airplanes through the sky
or have GI Joe fight the evil forces of My Little Pony all while singing:
“Noa noa noa noa…”
My mother told me Juan Gabriel had passed over the phone
while she was at HEB
and this was the most Juan Gabriel of moments
because if you’ve never cried in front of strangers at the grocery store
you can’t understand the depths of Juan Gabriel
When my first love left me because
my art couldn’t pay the bills
I spent days, no, months…years!
proclaiming to myself
No tengo dinero ni nada que dar
Lo único que tengo es amor para amar
over and over again like self-help mantra
because Mexicanos don’t go therapy
we go to our música! We go to Juan Gabriel!
(You should probably go to therapy AND listen to Juan Gabriel)
And when I met the one whom I was meant to find
my Querida – pienso en ti mas cada dia…
she probably doesn’t know this, but
when we were dating, I kept saying to myself
“Me gustas mucho! Me gustas mucho tu!”
See, we could not find the most appropriate words to describe our lives without him, without Juan Gabriel, I couldn’t say:
- Querida — estás — Siempre En Mi Mente
- Me Gustas Mucho — Pero — Porque me haces llorar — Pero que necesidad
- No Vale La Pena
- Se Me Olvido Otra Vez — que — La Diferencia — es que — Hasta Que te Conocí — Nunca Había Amado Así — Así Fue
- Ya No Vivo Por Vivir porque No Tengo Dinero
- Buenos Dias Señor Sol, Have You Ever Seen the Rain?
- ¡Caray! — Dejame — Dejame Vivir — Te Sigo Amando — Abrazame Muy
- Fuerte — Te Lo Pidooooo Por Favor
Juan Gabriel took the parts of his self
molded them into musical pieces
took the notes from the journal of his life
transformed into musical notes from his soul
His emotions were the ink in his pen
he created songs, melodic poems
proclaiming joy and pain and delight and absence and fondness
in a universe where passion and emotion reign
and love – love – love – love – love – love
sweet and glorious and wonderful, love
is the only — eternal!