Desert Girl

IquiqueWhere the sky is so cleanYou can see every starThat ever lied to you

Nací donde termina la carretera y empieza el polvoDonde las mamás lavan platos en silencioY los padrastros duermen en la pieza de al ladoY nadie dice nada porque decir es peor que callarFui una niña con las rodillas suciasQue miraba el desierto pensando que afueraHabía algo mejor — tenía que haber algo mejorPorque esto no podía ser todo

Desert girl, desert girlYou built yourself out of sand and mirrorsEverything you areYou stole from someone else's window

But the stars in Iquique are the sameAs the stars in CochabambaWhere I made bracelets with my handsAnd sold them for coinsThat I earned — with my hands, not my faceAnd that was the last timeThe last time I earned anythingThat way

At sixteen I followed a boy to BoliviaHe played guitar badly but he played it anywayWe slept in a house with a dirt yardAnd people who didn't ask me anythingAnd I was happyOr something so close to happyThat I couldn't tell the differenceHe left on a TuesdayI waited two weeksThen I took a bus back to the desertAnd my mother opened the doorAnd said: are you hungry?

A veces en un hotel de ParísO en un yate de CannesO en un baño de una ciudad gris en el norteMe acuerdo de ese patioDe esas estrellasDe esas pulserasY me pregunto qué habría pasadoSi me hubiera quedadoSi hubiera aprendido a hacer artesaníasEn vez de aprender a posar para fotos

Desert girl, desert girlYou ran so far from the sandThat you forgotThe sand was the only thingThat was yoursLas estrellas de Iquique siguen ahíEsperándomeSin cobrarme nada por mirarlas

CasiAlmostI almost stayed