Amour

This poem was printed in the program at our wedding.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!


Sonnet XVII
by: Pablo Neruda


I don't love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as certain dark things are loved,
secretly,

between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that doesn't bloom

and carries hidden within itself

the light of those flowers,
and thanks to your love,

darkly in my body
lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you simply,

without problems or pride:
I love you in this way because I don't know any other way of loving

but this,

in which there is no I or you,
so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,
so intimate that when I fall asleep...

it is your eyes that close.