I’m Not From Here

Inspired by the song, “No Soy de Aquí Ni Soy de Allá” by Facundo Cabral

Facundo Cabral was an Argentine troubadour who spent his whole life singing about not belonging anywhere and being entirely at peace with that.

I recently came to his most celebrated song, "No Soy de Aquí Ni Soy de Allá," the way you find the right book: right when it is needed.

I live now in the Sierra de Montánchez, in the region of Extremadura, in a small, ancient, remote village called Arroyomolinos, far from everywhere I was born, walking through the countryside with a Mastiff/Lab called Ánimo, and a lantern I have carried since the autumn of 2008, when my beloved son Cameron crossed, and the man I had been cracked open wide enough to let something else through.

Cabral's wanderer felt like kin to me. But his words were not my words, so I had to write my own. What follows is not a translation. It is call and response.

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Arroyomolinos, Cáceres, Extremadura, España. Photo: A 10-minute walk from my home.

I’m not from here.

I arrived with a lantern, a stick, a dog,

And my boy who taught me how to crack mySelf open,

And I have not stopped walking.

I like to walk where there is no path

Because a certain ground holds no stars.

I like to follow summer all the way to the edge of cool,

And return to the sierra in autumn.

To all my old dogs who kept my scent in the dark,

And the arms of lovers who never once asked where I’d been,

I express feelings of deep gratitude.

I occasionally enjoy a good cigarette and a Spanish guitar,

And the silence that follows a single chord.

I like the weight of Ánimo against my leg at midnight

And the way the sky blinks his eyes open just before Orion rises.

I occasionally enjoy bread still warm from someone else’s kitchen

And wine older than my questions.

I enjoy the sea arriving at my feet without appointment

And staying anyway.

I’m not from here, nor am I from there.

I carry no maps, and I need none.

The lantern is enough.

The boy lights it from the inside, showing the way forward.

I like to lie on the sand until I am the sand

And count the stars until they count me back.

I like having all the time in the world and none of it to waste,

And the ancestors breathing in the barley,

And my boy, somewhere ahead, always a little ahead,

Belly laughing. My Second Star to the Right.

I’m not from here, nor am I from there.

I have no age, and I owe no future.

And being content

Is not something I pursue.

It is what I am.

No soy de aquí.

Llegué con una linterna, un palo, un perro,

Y mi hijo que me enseñó a abrirme,

Y no he dejado de caminar.

Me gusta caminar donde no hay sendero,

Porque cierto suelo no alberga estrellas.

Me gusta seguir el verano hasta el límite del fresco,

Y regresar a la sierra en otoño.

A todos mis viejos perros que conservaron mi rastro en la oscuridad,

Y a los brazos de los amantes que jamás preguntaron dónde había estado,

Expreso mi profunda gratitud.

De vez en cuando disfruto de un buen cigarrillo y una guitarra española,

Y del silencio que sigue a un solo acorde.

Me gusta el peso de Ánimo contra mi pierna a medianoche,

Y la forma en que el cielo abre los ojos justo antes de que salga Orión.

De vez en cuando disfruto del pan aún caliente de la cocina de otra persona,

Y del vino más viejo que mis preguntas.

Disfruto del mar llegando a mis pies sin cita previa,

Y quedándose de todos modos.

No soy de aquí, ni de allá.

No llevo mapas, ni los necesito.

La linterna es suficiente.

El niño la enciende desde dentro, mostrando el camino.

Me gusta tumbarme en la arena hasta convertirme en arena.

Y contar las estrellas hasta que me cuenten a mí.

Me gusta tener todo el tiempo del mundo y no desperdiciar ni un minuto.

Y los ancestros respirando la cebada.

Y mi hijo, en algún lugar más adelante, siempre un poco más adelante.

Riendo a carcajadas. Mi segunda estrella a la derecha.

No soy de aquí, ni de allá.

No tengo edad, ni le debo futuro.

Y estar contento

No es algo que persiga.

Es lo que soy.

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© 2026 Rev. Rabbi Henry-Cameron Allen, OCP, ICGC All rights reserved.