Table of Contents

Sonnet XI
Sonnet XLIII Sonnet XLIV

Sonnet XLV Sonnet XLVI Sonnet LXV

Sonnet LXIX Sonnet LXXIX Sonnet LXXXIX

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Sonnet XI

I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.

Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.

Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day

I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps.

I hunger for your sleek laughs,

your hands the color of a savage harvest,

hunger for the pale stones of your fingernails,

I want to eat your skin like a whole almond.

I want to eat the sunbeam flaring in your lovely body,

the sovereign nose of your arrogant face,

I want to eat the fleeting shade of your lashes,

and I pace around hungry, sniffing the twilight,

hunting for you, for your hot heart,

like a puma in the barrens of Quitratúe.

Sonnet XLIII

I hunt for a sign of you in all others,

in the rapid undulant river of women,

braids, shyly sinking eyes,

light step that slides, sailing through the foam.

Suddenly I think I can make out your nails--

oblong, quick, nieces of a cherry--:

then it's your hair that passes by, and I think

i see your image, a bonfire, burning in the water.

I searched, but no one else had your rhythms,

your light, the shady say you brought from the forest;

nobody had your tiny ears.

You are whole--exact--and everything you are is one,

and so I go along, with you I float along, loving

a wide Mississippi toward a feminine sea.

Sonnet XLIV

You must know that I do not love you and that I love you,

because everything alive has its two sides;

a word is one wing of silence,

fire has its cold half.

I love you in order to begin to love you,

to start infinity again

and never stop loving you:

that's why I do not love you yet.

I love you, and I do not love you, as if I held

keys in my hand: to a future of joy--

a wretched, muddled fate--

My love has two lives, in order to love you:

that's why I love you when I do not love you,

and also why I love you when I do.

Sonnet XLV

Don't go far off, not even for a day, because--

because-- I don't know how to say it: a day is long

and I will be waiting fro you, as in an empty station

when the trains are parked off somewhere else, asleep.

Don't leave me, even for an hour, because

then the little drops of anguish will all run together,

the smoke that roams looking for a home will drift

into me, choking my lost heart.

Oh, may your silhouette never dissolve on the beach;

may your eyelids never flutter into the empty distance.

Don't leave me for a second. my dearest,

because in that moment you'll have gone so far

I'll wander mazily over the earth, asking,

Will you come back? Will you leave me here, dying?

Sonnet XLVI

Of all the stars I admired, drenched

in various rivers and mists,

I chose only the one I love.

Since then I sleep with the night.

Of all the waves, one wave and another wave,

green sea, green chill, branchings of green,

I chose only the one wave

the indivisible wave of your body.

All the waterdrops, all the roots,

all the threads of light gathered to me here;

they came to me sooner or later.

I wanted your hair, all for myself.

From all the graces my homeland offered

I chose only your savage heart.

Sonnet LXV

Matilde, where are you? Down there I noticed,

under my necktie and just above my heart,

a certain pang of grief between the ribs,

you were gone that quickly.

I needed the light of your energy,

I looked around, devouring hope.

I watched the void without you that is like a house,

nothing left but tragic windows.

Out of sheer taciturnity the ceiling listens

to the fall of the ancient leafless rain,

to feathers, to whatever the night imprisoned:

so I wait for you like lonely house

till you will see me again and live in me.

Till then my windows ache.

Sonnet LXIX

Maybe nothingness is to be without your presence,

without you moving, slicing the noon

like a blue flower, without you walking

later through the fog and the cobbles,

without the light you carry in your hand,

golden, which maybe others will not see,

which maybe no one knew was growing

like the red beginnings of a rose.

In short, without your presence: without your coming

suddenly, incitingly, to know my life,

gust of a rosebud, wheat of wind:

since then I am because you are,

since then you are, I am, we are,

and through love I will be, you will be, we'll be.

Sonnet LXXIX

By night, Love, tie your heart to mine, and the two

together in their sleep will defeat the darkness

like a double drum in the forest, pounding

against the thick wall of wet leaves.

Night travel: black flame of sleep

that snips the threads of the earth's grapes,

punctual as a headlong train that would haul

shadows and cold rocks, endlessly.

Because of this, Love, tie me to a purer motion,

to the constancy that beats in your chest

with the wings of a swan underwater,

so that our sleep might answer all the sky's

starry questions wit a single key,

with a single door the shadows had closed.

Sonnet LXXXIX

When I die, I want your hands on my eyes:

I want the light and wheat of your beloved hands

to pass their freshness over me once more:

I want to feel the softness that changed my destiny.

I want to live while I wait for you, asleep.

I want your ears still to hear the wind, I want you

to sniff the sea's aroma that we loved together,

to continue to walk on the sand we walk on.

I want what I love to continue to live,

and you whom I love, and sang above everything else

to continue to flourish, full-flowered:

so that you can reach everything my love directs you to,

so that my shadow can travel along in your hair,

so that everything can learn the reason for me song.

Back

*Sonnet XI*	*Sonnet XLIII*	*Sonnet XLIV*

*Sonnet XLV*	*Sonnet XLVI*	*Sonnet LXV*

*Sonnet LXIX*	*Sonnet LXXIX*	*Sonnet LXXXIX*

Sonnet XI	I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair. Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets. Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps. I hunger for your sleek laughs, your hands the color of a savage harvest, hunger for the pale stones of your fingernails, I want to eat your skin like a whole almond. I want to eat the sunbeam flaring in your lovely body, the sovereign nose of your arrogant face, I want to eat the fleeting shade of your lashes, and I pace around hungry, sniffing the twilight, hunting for you, for your hot heart, like a puma in the barrens of Quitratúe.
Sonnet XLIII	I hunt for a sign of you in all others, in the rapid undulant river of women, braids, shyly sinking eyes, light step that slides, sailing through the foam. Suddenly I think I can make out your nails-- oblong, quick, nieces of a cherry--: then it's your hair that passes by, and I think i see your image, a bonfire, burning in the water. I searched, but no one else had your rhythms, your light, the shady say you brought from the forest; nobody had your tiny ears. You are whole--exact--and everything you are is one, and so I go along, with you I float along, loving a wide Mississippi toward a feminine sea.
Sonnet XLIV	You must know that I do not love you and that I love you, because everything alive has its two sides; a word is one wing of silence, fire has its cold half. I love you in order to begin to love you, to start infinity again and never stop loving you: that's why I do not love you yet. I love you, and I do not love you, as if I held keys in my hand: to a future of joy-- a wretched, muddled fate-- My love has two lives, in order to love you: that's why I love you when I do not love you, and also why I love you when I do.
Sonnet XLV	Don't go far off, not even for a day, because-- because-- I don't know how to say it: a day is long and I will be waiting fro you, as in an empty station when the trains are parked off somewhere else, asleep. Don't leave me, even for an hour, because then the little drops of anguish will all run together, the smoke that roams looking for a home will drift into me, choking my lost heart. Oh, may your silhouette never dissolve on the beach; may your eyelids never flutter into the empty distance. Don't leave me for a second. my dearest, because in that moment you'll have gone so far I'll wander mazily over the earth, asking, Will you come back? Will you leave me here, dying?
Sonnet XLVI	Of all the stars I admired, drenched in various rivers and mists, I chose only the one I love. Since then I sleep with the night. Of all the waves, one wave and another wave, green sea, green chill, branchings of green, I chose only the one wave the indivisible wave of your body. All the waterdrops, all the roots, all the threads of light gathered to me here; they came to me sooner or later. I wanted your hair, all for myself. From all the graces my homeland offered I chose only your savage heart.
Sonnet LXV	Matilde, where are you? Down there I noticed, under my necktie and just above my heart, a certain pang of grief between the ribs, you were gone that quickly. I needed the light of your energy, I looked around, devouring hope. I watched the void without you that is like a house, nothing left but tragic windows. Out of sheer taciturnity the ceiling listens to the fall of the ancient leafless rain, to feathers, to whatever the night imprisoned: so I wait for you like lonely house till you will see me again and live in me. Till then my windows ache.
Sonnet LXIX	Maybe nothingness is to be without your presence, without you moving, slicing the noon like a blue flower, without you walking later through the fog and the cobbles, without the light you carry in your hand, golden, which maybe others will not see, which maybe no one knew was growing like the red beginnings of a rose. In short, without your presence: without your coming suddenly, incitingly, to know my life, gust of a rosebud, wheat of wind: since then I am because you are, since then you are, I am, we are, and through love I will be, you will be, we'll be.
Sonnet LXXIX	By night, Love, tie your heart to mine, and the two together in their sleep will defeat the darkness like a double drum in the forest, pounding against the thick wall of wet leaves. Night travel: black flame of sleep that snips the threads of the earth's grapes, punctual as a headlong train that would haul shadows and cold rocks, endlessly. Because of this, Love, tie me to a purer motion, to the constancy that beats in your chest with the wings of a swan underwater, so that our sleep might answer all the sky's starry questions wit a single key, with a single door the shadows had closed.
Sonnet LXXXIX	When I die, I want your hands on my eyes: I want the light and wheat of your beloved hands to pass their freshness over me once more: I want to feel the softness that changed my destiny. I want to live while I wait for you, asleep. I want your ears still to hear the wind, I want you to sniff the sea's aroma that we loved together, to continue to walk on the sand we walk on. I want what I love to continue to live, and you whom I love, and sang above everything else to continue to flourish, full-flowered: so that you can reach everything my love directs you to, so that my shadow can travel along in your hair, so that everything can learn the reason for me song.