Ode to the Present ~ Pablo Neruda
This moment as smooth as a board and fresh
This hour, this day as clean as an untouched glass.
Not a single spiderweb from the past
We touch the moment with our fingers
We cut it to size, we direct it's blooming
It's living, it's alive, it brings nothing
from yesterday that can't be redeemed
nothing from the lost past. This is our creation
It's growing this very instant, kicking up sand
or eating out of our hand.
Catch it, don't let it slip away!
Keep it from vanishing into dreams or words!
Grab it, pin it down, make it obey!
Make it a road or a bell, a machine,
a kiss, a book or a caress
Slice into it's sweet scent of wood
Make yourself a chair from it
then weave yourself a seat.
Try it out or better, try a ladder.
Yes, a ladder, rise out of the moment
step by step, feet firmly planted on the wood
of the moment-Up and up but not too much
Just high enough to patch the holes in the roof.
Not too far: you don't want to reach heaven.
Climb up to the apples, but not as far as the clouds
Let them cruise the sky, drifting towards the past.
You are your own moment, your own apple:
Pluck it from your apple tree.
Hold it up in your hand: It shines like a star
Stroke it, sink your teeth into it.
Now off you go whistling on your way!
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