I want you to
know
One thing.
You know how
this is:
If I look
At the crystal
moon, at the red branch
Of the slow
autumn at my window,
If I touch
Near the fire
The impalpable
ash
Or the wrinkled
body of the log,
Everything
carries me to you,
As if everything
that exists,
Aromas, light,
metals,
Were little
boats
That sail
Toward those
isles of yours that wait for me
Well, now,
If little by
little you stop loving me
I shall stop
loving you little by little.
If suddenly
You forget me
Do not look for
me
For I shall
already have forgotten you.
If you think it
long and mad,
The wind of
banners
That passes
through my life,
And you decide
To leave me at
the shore
Of the heart
where I have roots,
Remember
That on that
day,
At that hour,
I shall lift my
arms
And my roots
will set off
To seek another
land.
But
If each day,
Each hour,
You feel that
you are destined for me
With implacable
sweetness,
If each day a
flower
Climbs up to
your lips to seek me,
Ah my love, ah
my own,
In me all that
fire is repeated,
In me nothing is
extinguished or forgotten,
My love feeds on
your love, beloved,
And as long as
you live it will be in your arms
Without leaving
mine.
---Pablo Neruda