apoetreflects:

Poem: “XV I Like For You To Be” Still by Pablo Neruda
Read by Glenn Close

I like for you to be still: it is as though you are absent,
and you hear me from far away and my voice does
not touch you.
It seems as though your eyes had flown away
and it seems that a kiss had sealed your mouth.

As all things are filled with my soul
You emerge from the things, filled with my soul.
You are like my soul, a butterfly of dream,
and you are like the word Melancholy.

I like for you to be still, and you seem far away.
It sounds as though you are lamenting, a butterfly
cooing like a dove.
And you hear me from far away, and my voice does
not reach you:
Let me come to be still in your silence.

And let me talk to you with your silence
that is bright as a lamp, simple as a ring.
You are like the night, with its stillness and constellations.
Your silence is that of a star, as remote and candid.

I like for you to be still: it is as though you are absent,
distant and full of sorrow as though you had died.
One word then, one smile, is enough.
And I am happy, happy that it’s not true.

Translated by W.S. Merwin

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