Thursday, January 25, 2007

POETIC INTOXICATION (or why I love poetry in under 200 words)





Thinking of my lifelong love affair with poetry could take me anywhere...but to do it in so few words is best left to masters like Neruda, like this:


POETRY
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 plantations,
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 loose on the wind.


--Pablo Neruda--
Link

15 Comments:

Blogger Sideon said...

I think my mind and heart and soul just exploded.

"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."

and

"And I, infinitesimal being,
drunk with the great starry
void,"

It feels like finding that long-lost love all over again.

Thank you. A thousand times, thank you.

4:42 PM  
Blogger Regina said...

Pablo is my hero... sigh...
Thank you so much...

4:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Love the idea that "Poetry arrived
in search of me."

5:13 PM  
Blogger January said...

Can't go wrong with Neruda. It's great when a poet and a poem sums up what you've been trying to say all your life.

Great post and photo!

7:44 PM  
Blogger Susannah Conway said...

i love this one, and have it on my blog too somewhere :-) you and i will read it together (with Guinness) one day soon...
Lx

7:53 PM  
Blogger rel said...

L-HT,
This piece grabed me with revelation:

"of someone who knows nothing,
and suddenly I saw
the heavens
unfastened
and open"
rel

8:32 PM  
Blogger Lilian said...

Yes, this poem is amazing. Have you read his memoirs? I taught them a few times, it's lovely. he had an intense life.

10:44 PM  
Blogger claireylove said...

'I felt myself a pure part
of the abyss' - these are the lines that rang truest for me, part of my story (though I read it first as pure 'port' which i has its own nuances for me...) this choosing of the right poem at the right moment - it really is a talent in you isn't it?!!!

3:01 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Such a beautiful poem. Thanks for the reminder of poetry's reach and impact.

5:25 AM  
Blogger gkgirl said...

wow.
oh.
wow.

that one is intense.

so many lines that made me stop.

perfect choice!

6:19 AM  
Blogger gerry rosser said...

Thanks for sharing the Neruda. I'm such a poetry Philistine.

12:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

On our NYC tour, we're so stopping somewhere for big brown pints of Guines. Ok, I'd probably drink Boddington's instead, but it is made by Guiness!! I love this post.

9:38 PM  
Blogger Hulles said...

I enjoyed the post a lot, and appreciated the Neruda. The rascal seems to be cropping up in the places on the Internet where I hang out a lot, which is in my mind a very good thing (including my own blog a while ago). Go Pablo. And thanks for the entry, it was lovely.

7:56 PM  
Blogger nina beana said...

what a beautiful photo...again!

1:14 PM  
Blogger Vanessa/NessieNoodle said...

mmm, pablo. I love his words.

1:38 PM  

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