[PG-17: Politics, Suggestiveness] Reading Neruda

[dcmarti1]

I am posting this now due to the news that his remains are to be exhumed and examined to determine his cause of death; the dictator Pinochet MIGHT have had this poet silenced. (Meridian Hill is a large park in DC.)

 

http://www.euronews.com/2013/04/08/nobel-laureate-naruda-s-remains-to-be-exhumed-in-chile/

 

 

I am

shocked to learn that

you are a Communist: this matters

in 1992. El poeta: el, masculine; poeta, feminine;

that's something.

 

I bring

you to Meridian Hill,

near the statue of Jeanne d'Arc,

though she might have been too young, even

for you.

 

You are

a bi-lingual edition, naturally.

Mis novios de mis noches did

not, cumulatively, teach me very much, it seems.

How sad.

 

Only one

of the fountains works.

Its spray keeps cleanly to itself.

There is no wind; the face of the

water sleeps.

 

Bright but

not oppressive: the weather,

and not the Salvadoran hiding in

the shade. He is more shadow than he

is flesh.

 

Before sitting,

I take the view

at the rail: the cascade is

trim and clean; nothing but foam down the

thirteen steps.

 

I sit

facing the butt of

Jeanne's horse. I see the sword

in her hand and I ask, "How Christian

is that?"

 

I am

in profile to the

shady one. He spreads his legs

and cups himself, looking through dark bangs and

dark eyes.

 

I nod.

He stirs at my

suggestion, almond eyes and high cheeks.

He sees you in my hands and he

passes by.

 

Twenty years

later I don't now

give a fig that you were

a Communist, just that you blew my chance

for poetry.

 

October 2012

[dr_con]

Stunning piece. It moved me as only a poem can. A fitting tribute and if you haven't read it, I highly recommend Naomi Klein's 'Shock Doctrine' for a reasoned view on artists and what was done to them as well as what is being done now.

 

Con/Jur/D

[badger11]

 

Only one

of the fountains works.

Its spray keeps cleanly to itself.

 

Much to enjoy here dcm. I am reminded in these words how the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

 

badge

[dcmarti1]

Thank you both, dr and badge. After all these years I still remember the weather that day. For pics of Meridian Hill just look at wikipedia. Kline's book, I'm sure, is phenom. Power to the artists.

[Benjamin]

Agree with badge there is much to enjoy here. Excellent work that takes me back to the first time I read a copy of The Captains Verses (borrowed from a friend in 1972 and never returned).

[Tinker]

Hi Marti, Nice tribute and interesting read. I love your use of Spanish spattered in with English and that you used a string of "Craspey" Cinquains but loosened them up a bit with your syllable count to put the content and fluidity first while still leaving the form recognizable. That's evolution and keeping it fresh. I really enjoyed this poem. Thanks

 

~~Tink

[dcmarti1]

Hi Marti, Nice tribute and interesting read. I love your use of Spanish spattered in with English and that you used a string of "Craspey" Cinquains but loosened them up a bit with your syllable count to put the content and fluidity first while still leaving the form recognizable. That's evolution and keeping it fresh. I really enjoyed this poem. Thanks

 

~~Tink

 

Actually, it was not so much syllable count as WORD count, regardless of syllable/meter. 2, 4, 6, 8, 2 words. I can't actually remember why I chose that, other than some of Neruda's lines were long and fluid.

[Gatekeeper]

Fair warning:

 

I intend to steal a version of this line . . .

 

"There is no wind; the face of the

water sleeps."

 

Thanks.

[dcmarti1]

Fair warning:

 

I intend to steal a version of this line . . .

 

"There is no wind; the face of the

water sleeps."

 

Thanks.

 

TS Elliot said, "Good writers borrow, great writers steal."

[jainrohit]

this has the charm , the feel and the experience of lationo culture and neruda in particular. It takes time to grasp this but when one does it , fully appreciates it

[dcmarti1]

this has the charm , the feel and the experience of lationo culture and neruda in particular. It takes time to grasp this but when one does it , fully appreciates it

 

Yikes. I forgot to say thank you! :)