Thursday, December 22, 2005

An owl's feather

"...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, infinitesmal 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."

— Pablo Neruda


Happy holidays to you all.

14 Comments:

Blogger Brenda Clews said...

A depth of vision, wholly affirming. Happy holidays to you, too, dear moose. xo

12/22/2005 11:57 AM  
Blogger MB said...

Thanks, Brenda! :-)

12/22/2005 1:55 PM  
Blogger mermaid said...

Greatful. That word comes to mind. Peace to you, Moose.

12/22/2005 4:44 PM  
Blogger rdl said...

Happy Holidays to you too Moose!

12/22/2005 9:22 PM  
Blogger Mary said...

Moose: peace and joy to you over the holidays.

And what a wonderful poem the Neruda is - I hadn't come across it before. xxx

12/22/2005 10:44 PM  
Blogger Anna Piutti said...

Happy holidays to you!

12/23/2005 12:39 PM  
Blogger robin andrea said...

Such a fantastic poem to greet the new year. "...my heart broke free on the open sky." Yes. Thank you, and happy holidays to you, Moose.

12/23/2005 2:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Moose,
I never read this before and I'm so glad that you introduced this to us. I have nothing to say about this piece except that is is perfectly crafted. I'm not familiar with Pablo Neruda, but I soon will be;)
Happy Holidays

12/23/2005 5:49 PM  
Blogger Sue hardy-Dawson said...

Beautiful I keep coming across his work on blogs, Merry Christmas

12/24/2005 10:16 AM  
Blogger Anna Piutti said...

Merry Christmas to you! I think I accidentally deleted your comment instead of publishign it...:( I'm sorry.
Have a great time!

12/24/2005 1:23 PM  
Blogger DTclarinet said...

This is such a wonderful gift. Merry Christmas.

May the gift of the light in your heart glow bright and long.

David

12/24/2005 11:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Happy holidays to you, too, Moose -er- MB. :) I'm still in my holiday weirdness mode, but will be back to play at my place next year. If we don't "speak" between now and then, here's wishing you and yours all the best for this season and well beyond.

P. S. -- I love Neruda. Nice choice.

Cheers!

12/26/2005 11:31 AM  
Blogger Frankie said...

Absolutely stunning poem! Thanks so much for sharing it! I hope you had a truly wonderful Christmas!!

12/28/2005 12:14 PM  
Blogger MB said...

Thank you all for your very good wishes!

12/29/2005 3:25 PM  

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