POETRY, PABLO NERUDA
“And it was at that age… Poetry arrived
in search of me. I don’t know, I don’t know where
it came from, from winter or a river.
I don’t know how or when,
no, they were not voices, they were not
words, nor silence,
but from a street I was summoned,
from the branches of night,
abruptly from the others,
among violent fires
or returning alone,
there I was without a face
and it touched me.
I did not know what to say, my mouth
had no way
with names
my eyes were blind,
and something started in my soul,
fever or forgotten wings,
and I made my own way,
deciphering
that fire
and I wrote the first faint line,
faint, without substance, pure
nonsense,
pure wisdom
of someone who knows nothing,
and suddenly I saw
the heavens
unfastened
and open,
planets,
palpitating planations,
shadow perforated,
riddled
with arrows, fire and flowers,
the winding night, the universe.
And I, infinitesimal being,
drunk with the great starry
void,
likeness, image of
mystery,
I felt myself a pure part
of the abyss,
I wheeled with the stars,
my heart broke free on the open sky.”
(I get urges to do this, all the time)
When I Grow Up from Fever Ray on Vimeo.
4 Comments
I love your blog! I have so much writing to do for school this week and your beautiful writing/inclusion of poetry makes me feel better about it all haha. the graphics are nice too as I always enjoy pretty pictures.
Hey Little(Tall) lady,
great post!
How good is Fever Ray and that video!?
i love love love!
hey got some cools news and an idea for yea,
i’ll email it! ha
miss you, hope your doing great!
d-romma
What I love most about this poem is that it shows writing poetry as an act of submission to a greater force.
If you really like Neruda, check out Red Poppy at http://www.redpoppy.net/pablo_neruda.php. It’s a non-profit set up to create a documentary about Neruda, publish his biography, and translate his works into English. To see our blog on Neruda’s literary activism, go to http://www.redpoppy.net/journal/Pablo_Neruda_Presente.html.
Hey Sophie, your blog is amazing and really inspiring. I love ‘an almost reckless faith’ and the poem is great!