Do you see these hands? They have measured
Earth, they have separated mineral
from mineral, cereal from cereal,
They have made war and made peace,
They have conquered the distances
Of all seas and all rivers
And still,
When they roam
Over you, little one,
you grain of corn, lark,
They are incapable of containing you,
They embrace until exhaustion
The twin doves
That rest or fly upon your breast,
They travel the distance of your legs,
Curl up in the light of your waist.
To me you are a treasure, greater
And more costly than the sea and its clusters
And you are white and blue and vast
As Earth at Harvest Time.
In this area,
From your feet to your forehead,
I want to spend life,
Wandering, always wandering.
-Pablo Neruda |