One Knot More to the Thread of Life…
Births
We will never have any memory of dying.
We were so patient
about our being,
noting down
numbers, days,
years and months,
hair, and the mouths we kiss,
and that moment of dying
we let pass without a note—
we leave it to others as memory,
or we leave it simply to water,
to water, to air, to time.
Nor do we even keep
the memory of being born,
although to come into being was tumultuous and new;
and now you don’t remember a single detail
and haven’t kept even a trace
of your first light.
It’s well known that we are born.
It’s well known that in the room
or in the wood
or in the shelter in the fishermen’s quarter
or in the rustling canefields
there is a quite unusual silence,
a grave and wooden moment as
a woman prepares to give birth.
It’s well known that we were all born.
But of that abrupt translation
from not being to existing, to having hands,
to seeing, to having eyes,
to eating and weeping and overflowing
and loving and loving and suffering and suffering,
of that transition, that quivering
of an electric presence, raising up
one body more, like a living cup,
and of that woman left empty,
the mother who is left there in her blood
and her lacerated fullness,
and its end and its beginning, and disorder
tumbling the pulse, the floor, the covers
till everything comes together and adds
one knot more to the thread of life,
nothing, nothing remains in your memory
of the savage sea which summoned up a wave
and plucked a shrouded apple from the tree.
The only thing you remember is your life.
– Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda: (from “Fully Empowered”, translation of “Plenos Poderes” 1962)
9 Responses to “One Knot More to the Thread of Life…”
Thank you Philip.
Pablo Neruda was the only poet my father really liked and whom he even bought a bundle of poetry of. The book now has a prominent place in my room.
Beautiful – thank you for posting.
Also FYI Fracking linked to radioactive river water in Pa. on USATODAY.com: http://usat.ly/19YLhbN
>________________________________ > From: Philip Carr-Gomm’s Weblog >To: britmary7@yahoo.com >Sent: Thursday, October 3, 2013 6:42 AM >Subject: [New post] One Knot More to the Thread of Life… > > > > WordPress.com >Philip Carr-Gomm posted: ” Births We will never have any memory of dying. We were so patient about our being, noting down numbers, days, years and months, hair, and the mouths we kiss, and that moment of dying we let pass without a note— we leave it to others as m” >
Hi Philip I hope you dont mind me posting this here. I have two books out one of my poems and one of my stories. This is the second one that has been made into a film. My story The tree of lifr id also being used on the Woodlands trust site to help protedt the forests
Its finished my poem ‘Witch’ has been turned into a film on youtub also narrated by myself I hope you enjoy it.
Film by Celestial Elf
Poem by Lynda F Tallis
Narrations by Lynda F Tallis
Music by Maggie Beth Serpentyne
Wonderful Music and film by two amazing talented people Thank you for turning my poem into life its just as I had imagined it
Lynda F Tallis.
https://www.facebook.com/LyndaFTallis http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/campaigning/woodwatch/woodwatchers/Pages/tree-of-life-film.aspx#.T4fY4oHheEU
Thank you for this beautiful poem. Within minutes of reading your blog I found out my uncle (my fathers identical twin) passed away in Australia. This was a real comfort to me.
Thank you sharing this.
Marianne
Sent from my iPhone. Please mariannevgordon@hotmail.com to reply. Thanks.
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This is beautiful, Thank you.
Fantastic poem Philip, a beautiful choice. Thank you
Beautiful poem… in memory of Betty, the grand-mother of my sons who just passed away last night and with love for my father who bought me long ago a book of Pablo Neruda’s poems…
…ah that is just divine …thank you!
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