Poem: Past by Pablo Neruda
Past
- Pablo Neruda
We have to discard the past
and, as one builds
floor by floor, window by window,
and the building rises,
so do we go on throwing down
first, broken tiles,
then pompous doors,
until out of the past
dust rises
as if to crash
against the floor,
smoke rises
as if to catch fire,
and each new day
it gleams
like an empty
plate.
There is nothing, there is always nothing.
It has to be filled
with a new, fruitful
space,
then downward
tumbles yesterday
as in a well
falls yesterday’s water,
into the cistern
of all still without voice or fire.
It is difficult to teach bones
to disappear,
to teach eyes
to close
but
we do it
unrealizing.
It was all alive,
alive, alive, alive
like a scarlet fish
but time
passed over its dark cloth
and the flash of the fish
drowned and disappeared.
Water water water
the past goes on falling
still a tangle
of bones
and of roots;
it has been, it has been, and now
memories mean nothing.
Now the heavy eyelid
covers the light of the eye
and what was once living
now no longer lives;
what we were, we are not.
And with words, although the letters
still have transparency and sound,
they change, and the mouth changes;
the same mouth is now another mouth;
they change, lips, skin, circulation;
another being has occupied our skeleton;
what once was in us now is not.
It has gone, but if the call, we reply;
“I am here,” knowing we are not,
that what once was, was and is lost,
is lost in the past, and now will not return.
Keysi:
and so we turn our eyes into the horizon
and hope for the best tomorrow
for whatever destiny holds for us
lies in our decision
but to you I say oh but give me a chance
to show you how I love
my words, my thoughts, not a bit farce
for in my honesty
i gamble everything I have
for in my honesty
i was once ruined in the past
but I take this risk for you and you alone
for you rekindled a fire in me
that I thought long gone
how sweet this feeling, feeling it again
of joy, glee, and happiness
throbbing in my long dead heart
my stone cold heart
cynic, apathetic, selfish
revived to life with but a smile
that you so effortlessly, unselfishly
flash to everyone
captivating me
holding me by the neck
giving me reason to go on
and to believe once again in
love.
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13 Responses to “Poem: Past by Pablo Neruda”
By keysi on Sep 25, 2006 | Reply
jeez, i suck at poetry
By feed on Sep 26, 2006 | Reply
sabi nila good poetry has three imp elements: rhyme, meter, metaphor. pwe. pakelam sa kanila. hehehehe
*i'm not in love...* nyehehehe
suck at poetry ka jan.
By keysi on Sep 26, 2006 | Reply
jejejeje... pag nakita ni ermm... yan, lalaitin ako nun. har har har
By feed on Sep 27, 2006 | Reply
cnong ermm :lol:
lalaitin daw... wuuuuuuuuuu manlait na kung manlait hehehehe
By keysi on Sep 27, 2006 | Reply
hehehe. yung anu.. basta. siya. :P
By feed on Sep 28, 2006 | Reply
o xa, siya. hehehehehe
By sylvia plath on Sep 28, 2006 | Reply
If Pablo Neruda is exhumed and asked to write poetry, I will kiss his skeleton hands; for he would still write the best love poems that would make grown men weep.
Since we cannot have that, let\'s cherish what he left behind. For the record, that Neruda poem sent a shiver down my spine. It so hit a nerve. Hay.
To that person who would make \"lait\" of Keysi\'s poetry, let\'s have coffee and discuss good poetry. I\'m buying. Nyahahaha.
By sylvia plath on Sep 28, 2006 | Reply
ang corny mo talaga. who is this venerable being you have blinded this time?
i hope the poem would work. good luck! hehehe.
By keysi on Sep 28, 2006 | Reply
fair lady, all-knowing sensei, it is i who had been blinded :P
By sylvia plath on Sep 28, 2006 | Reply
\"I can believe anything, provided that it is quite incredible.\"
-Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891 Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 - 1900)
Who am I to argue with a genius?
By keysi on Sep 28, 2006 | Reply
sensei~ have your read "Part 2" already?
By eca on Oct 2, 2006 | Reply
keysi,
sa pagsulat ng tula...1. kailangan may metaphor, (ito yung image na gusto mong ipakita sa kabuuan ng tula. Mas maganda kung gagamit ka ng mga mga juicy images para palitan ang mga narratives mo.) 2. kailangan ang husay sa mga salita, hindi laging tugma ang kailangan, may free verse na hindi rin talagang free, aabutin ako ng isang pahina para idiscuss ang mga bagay na ito...pero ang gusto ko lang talaga sabihin, kailangan pasok din ang elemento ng sound. Yung masarap basahin at walang garalgal pag binasa ang isang tula. lastly, 3.) kailangan ang point of view ng persona sa tula, hindi man ikaw un bilang makata, pero dapat may mensahe itong malinaw at mas maganda kung makararating ang mensaheng ito sa mga mambabasa ng hindi na kailangan pa ng explanation ng makata. ok?
so ayun nag comment na ako hahaha..
By keysi on Oct 8, 2006 | Reply
kaya nga po sabi ko i suck at poetry. hehe