19 [Roa Lynn and Patrick Morgan]
Roa Lynn and Patrick Morgan
were moored in these waters,
bewildered on this river,
hostile, florid, morose,
they go off to sea or to hell,
with an intensifying love
that bathes them in light
or plucks them from the algae:
but the waters rush on
through darkness, full of voices,
a rhapsody of kisses and ashes,
streets bloodied by soldiers,
unacceptable reunions
of grief and blubbering:
so much carried by these waters!
our pace and place,
the ferment of the favelas
and ghoulish masks.
Just look what the water’s carrying
up this four-armed river!
Pablo Neruda, 1904–1973
© 2016 Fundacíon Pablo Neruda
from Then Come Back: The Lost Neruda Poems
Translated by Forrest Gander
Alex Iby on Unsplash
