with her
When Margaret and I were dating, she asked me one day "What do you want to do with your life?" I told her I wanted to be an artist, but it was unrealistic, as there was no way to do that and raise a family. She paused and said "You can be an artist and raise a family."
Eleven years later, my little wife lay on our bed, exhausted, her very body a cradle for the life within her. A baby in her womb, she lay on the bed, limp with fatigue. Always giving, always loving, always giving. Herself not for herself, her life birthing life. I sketched silently, solemnly, in awe of selflessness, of love.
"With her"
This time is difficult. Wait for me.
We will live it out vividly.
Give me your small hand:
we will rise and suffer,
we will feel, we will rejoice.
------
We are once more the pair
who lived in bristling places,
in harsh nests in the rock.
This time is difficult. Wait for me
with a basket, with a shovel,
with your shoes and your clothes.
------
Now we need each other,
not only for the carnations' sake,
not only to look for honey-
we need our hands
to wash with, to make fire.
So let our difficult time
stand up to infinity
with four hands and four eyes.
-Pablo Neruda, "With her"
"Con ella"
Como es duro este tiempo, esperame:
vamos a vivirlo con ganas.
Dame tu pequenita mano:
vamos a subir y sufrir,
vamos a sentir y saltar.
-----
Somos de nuevo la pareja
que vivio en lugares hirsutos,
en nidos asperos de roca.
Como es largo este tiempo, esperame
con una cesta, con tu pala,
con tus zapatos y tu ropa.
-----
Ahora nos necesitamos
non solo para los claveles,
no solo para buscar miel:
necesitamos nuestras manos
para lavar y hacer el fuego,
y que se atrreva el tiempo duro
a desafiar el infinito
de cuatro manos y cuatro ojos.
-Pablo Neruda, "Con Ella"
