New Thing 60, New Thing Every Day: Read Pablo Neruda Poetry

Still alive, Pablo Neruda has been considered one of the world's most heralded poets for decades. I have read some poetry in my time, but not as a habit, and I have never read Neruda. Today, I read a few different things. Here is one you might like.

XVII (I do not love you...)

I do not love you as if you were 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 does 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.