Between the shadow and the soul

Because I know no other way than this...

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.

- Pablo Neruda

My thoughts

Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) was a Chilean poet and politician who is famous for his sensual and often erotically charged love poems. His most renowned works include Twenty Poems of Love and a Song of Despair. I had started my blog with one of his poems; so it stands to reason that my favourite poem, out of all the ones I love, can only be one written by Neruda. 

I identify so strongly with the soul-deep love this poem speaks of - a feeling that cannot be expressed through honeyed words or flowers or precious stones. Rather, it is an emotion hidden in the dark recesses of the soul - a feeling without artifice or conditions or complexity. This is the kind of love that renders everything redundant - words, reasons, consequences, personalities and differences. There is no how or why or where to such a love; it is love simply because it is - because there is no other way to live than this.