Mugaldean bizitzeak esan nahi din hi

ez haizela hispana india negra española

ni gabacha, eres mestiza, mulata, kasta exkaxekoa

bandoen arteko su gurutzatuan harrapatua

bost arrazak bizkar gainean garraioan

jakin gabe zein aldetara itzuli, zeinetatik egin hanka;

 

Mugaldean bizitzeak esan nahi din jakitea

hire baitako india, 500 urtez traizionatua,

jada mintzatzen ez zainala,

mexicanek rajetas esaten dinatela,

hire baitako angloa ukatzea

indioa edo beltza ukatu izana bezain makurra dela;

 

Cuando vives en las Borderlands

zeharkatu egiten hau jendeak, ahotsa ebasten din haizeak,

haiz burra, buey, pagaburua,

arraza berri baten aitzindaria,

erdi eta erdi –eme zein gizon, bat ere ez–

genero berri bat;

 

Mugaldean bizitzeak esan nahi din

borschtean chilea jartzea,

bihi osoko gari-tortillak jatea,

Brooklyngo azentuarekin tex-mexez aritzea;

migrak mugako kontroletan geldiaraztea;

 

Mugaldean bizitzeak esan nahi din borroka latzean habilela

aurre egin nahian botilatik deika dunan urrezko elixirrari,

armaren kanoiaren tiroari,

eztarriko zuloa estutzen dinan sokari;

 

Mugaldean

heu haiz gudu-zelaia

eta elkarren arteko ahaideak ditun etsaiak;

etxean bezala hago, arrotza,

ebatzi ditun mugen gaineko eztabaidak

tiroen danbatekoek suntsitu diten su-etena

hago zauriturik, ekintzan galdurik,

hilik, kolpea itzuliz;

 

Mugaldean bizitzeak esan nahi din

hortz zuri zorroztuko errotak larrutu nahi dinala

azal beltz kobrekara, zanpatu hazia, hire bihotza

eho, oratu, lautu

ogi zuriaren lurrinaz baina zendua;

 

Mugaldean bizirik iraute aldera

bizi behar dun sin fronteras

bidegurutze bat izan.

 

 

To live in the Borderlands

To live in the borderlands means you / are neither hispana india negra Espanola / ni gabacha, eres mestiza, mulata, half-breed / caught in the crossfire between camps / while carrying all five races on your back / not knowing which side to turn to, run from; // To live in the Borderlands means knowing  / that the india in you, betrayed for 500 years, / is no longer speaking to you, / the mexicanas call you rajetas, that denying the Anglo inside you / is as bad as having denied the Indian or Black; // Cuando vives en la frontera / people walk through you, the wind steals your voice, / you’re a burra, buey, scapegoat, / forerunner of a new race, / half and half -both woman and man, neither- a new gender; // To live in the Borderlands means to / put chile in the borscht, / eat whole wheat tortillas, / speak Tex-Mex with a Brooklyn accent; / be stopped by la migra at the border checkpoints; // Living in the Borderlands means you fight hard to / resist the gold elixir beckoning from the bottle, / the pull of the gun barrel, / the rope crushing the hollow of your throat; // In the Borderlands / you are the battleground / where enemies are kin to each other; / you are at home, a stranger, / the border disputes have been settled / the volley of shots have scattered the truce / you are wounded, lost in action / dead, fighting back; // To live in the Borderlands means / the mill with the razor white teeth wants to shred off / your olive-red skin, crush out the kernel, your heart / pound you pinch you roll you out / smelling like white bread but dead; // To survive the Borderlands / you must live sin fronteras / be a crossroads.