No Poor, Indifferent Place

If your everyday life seems poor, don't blame it; blame yourself,
admit to yourself that you are not enough of a poet to call forth its riches;
because for the creator there is no poverty and no poor, indifferent place.
And even if you found yourself in some prison,
whose walls let in none of the world's sounds --
wouldn't you still have your childhood, that jewel beyond all price,
that treasure house of memories? Turn your attention to it.
Try to raise up the sunken feelings of this enormous past;
your personality will grow stronger,
your solitude will expand and become a place where you can live in the twilight,
where the noise of other people passes by, far in the distance.

-Ranier Maria Rilke
"Letters to a Young Poet"
translated by Stephen Mitchell

*****

No tengo nunca más, no tengo siempre. En la arena
la victoria dejó sus pies perdidos.
Soy un pobre hombre dispuesto a amar a sus semejantes.
No sé quién eres. Te amo. No doy, no vendo espinas.

Alguien sabrá tal vez que no tejí coronas
sangrientas, que combatí la burla,
y que en verdad llené la pleamar de mi alma.
Yo pagué la vileza con palomas.

Yo no tengo jamás porque distinto
fui, soy, seré. Y en nombre
de mi cambiante amor proclamo la pureza.

La muerte es solo piedra del olvido.
Te amo, beso en tu boca la alegría.
Traigamos leña. Haremos fuego en la montaña.

-Pablo Neruda
"LXXVIII"
translated by Stephen Tapscott (see #78 )

This site actually does have oodles of pics and nonesensical ramblings.
Only I'm still too paranoid to let total strangers in.
So, add me as a contact first.

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