The always-inspiring Chilean poet and statesman, Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), wrote in Spanish but his work translates well into English. I have already shared (April 2022) on this blog my love of his poem, “Ode to My Socks,” and, indeed I think of that poem often when I wear the socks I knit for myself or when I am at work on a pair for someone I love. Today, I want to share a poem of his I discovered this morning as I thought about the shape of the triangle.
Triangles Three triangles of birds crossed Over the enormous ocean which extended In winter like a green beast. Everything just lay there, the silence, The unfolding gray, the heavy light Of space, some land now and then. Over everything there was passing A flight And another flight Of dark birds, winter bodies Trembling triangles Whose wings, Frantically flapping, hardly Can carry the gray cold, the desolate days From one place to another Along the coast of Chile. I am here while from one sky to another The trembling of the migratory birds Leaves me sunk inside myself, inside my own matter Like an everlasting well Dug by an immovable spiral. Now they have disappeared Black feathers of the sea Iron birds From steep slopes and rock piles Now at noon I am in front of emptiness. It-s a winter Space stretched out And the sea has put Over its blue face A bitter mask. Pablo Neruda
While I am unable to read the original, and I could not find a citation for the translator, I find this poem effective and evocative. (If you know more about this poem’s publication and/or translation history, please let me know, and I shall update this post.)
Context for My Poem, “Attic Story”:
Some of you might recall that last year there were lots of basement poems in April. Today it was this photograph I took in 2012 that inspired the poem, “Attic Story.”
Until tomorrow, LESLIE
So good to know what you like about today’s offerings! Thank you!
Fun for a lot of reasons. Love the Neruda poem and that “something” about his voice. Love that your poem today uses words to cut from nothingness a very clear image of an attic. (Love that I learned a new word: chary!!) Love the photographs that accompany this post.