American Chica
I am, seeing, hearing
with half my soul at sea and half my soul on land,
and with these two halves of soul I see the world.
Estoy, mirando, oyendo,
con la mitad del alma en el mar y la mitad del alma en la tierra,
y con las dos mitades del alma miro el mundo.
-- Pablo Neruda
and with these two halves of soul I see the world.
Estoy, mirando, oyendo,
con la mitad del alma en el mar y la mitad del alma en la tierra,
y con las dos mitades del alma miro el mundo.
-- Pablo Neruda
This beautiful poem is on the first pages of American Chica by Marie Arana, which I was lucky enough to stumble upon today during a library visit. How suddenly struck I was by its appropriateness to my own soul. Given the notes I get on this blog and in e-mail, it's appropriate to a lot of us. So, I post it for you.
The first pages of Arana's book promise to be a delicious and insightful read. The pages I skimmed are pure art. (And hey, of course, she's a journalist.) The book is about living with her Peruvian father and American mother in both Peru and Wyoming in the 1950s. Talk about a split.
Tonight, this book is my dessert.
The first pages of Arana's book promise to be a delicious and insightful read. The pages I skimmed are pure art. (And hey, of course, she's a journalist.) The book is about living with her Peruvian father and American mother in both Peru and Wyoming in the 1950s. Talk about a split.
Tonight, this book is my dessert.
Niña, tienes muy buen gusto. Ese fragmento es de un poema mas largo de Neruda titulado “Agua Sexual”, publicado en “Residencia en la tierra”.
En ese mismo poema la estrofa que le sigue dice así:
“Y aunque cierre los ojos y me cubra el corazón enteramente,
veo caer agua sorda,
a goterones sordos.
Es como un huracán de gelatina,
como una catarata de espermas y medusas.
Veo correr un arco iris turbio.
Veo pasar sus aguas a través de los huesos.”
Gracias, Sr. Guinero…Beautiful poem, indeed. Y el libro es lindisimo.
I love Pablo Neruda – a beautiful quote.
Also love stumbling upon the perfect book at the library :)