V-Day part 3

Love Sonnet XVII

I do not love you as if you were a salt rose,
or topaz
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret,
between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth,
lives darkly in my body.
I love you without knowing how,
or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly,
without complexities or pride;
So I love you because I know no other way than this:
where I do not exist, nor you,
so close
that your hand on my chest
is my hand,
so close
that your eyes close as I fall asleep.


Pablo Neruda
.............................................................................................................................................................................

The Swan Search


I looked for you in the streets of Paris,

every swift, fawn-colored car recalled your lithe limbs.

I looked for you in the King's garden at Versailles,

rainbow-colored begonias conjured the patterns of our rainbow moments.

I looked for you in every Chateau of the Loire,

every white swan gliding hopes on Lake Geneva.

Every brown-roofed chalet speckling the Alps became our nest.

I groped for the intensity of your agate eyes in every mountain I encountered.

I looked for you everywhere,

but could only find you in me

everywhere,

in every urban and suburban cell

of my existence.



Ada A. Aharoni, Ph.D.