Dark Bilious Vapors

I’ve been wanting to post a few of my favorite poems by Pablo Neruda, and there isn’t any particular segue into them as a topic, except as I periodically feel like re-reading them on occasion. So, I’m going to post some here and there…and hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

The Captain’s Verses were many poems written about (to) the woman who became his wife and they reflect his passion and desire for this woman. This one is called “Desire: The Tiger”:

The Captain's Verses
Pablo Neruda , 1952

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DESIRE
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THE TIGER

I am the tiger.
I lie in wait for you among leaves
broad as ingots
of wet mineral.

The white river grows
beneath the fog. You come.

Naked you submerge.
I wait.

Then in a leap of fire, blood, teeth,
with a claw slash I tear away
your bosom, your hips.

I drink your blood, I break
your limbs one by one.

And I remain watching
for years in the forest
over your bones, your ashes,
motionless, far
from hatred and anger,
disarmed in your death,
crossed by lianas,
motionless in the rain,
relentless sentinel
of my murderous love.

Karen on 06.03.05 @ 06:13 AM CST