12.31.2012

12.28.2012

Ode to things, by Pablo Neruda


I have a crazy,
crazy love of things.
I like pliers,
and scissors. 
I love
cups, 
rings,
and bowls – 
not to speak, or course,
of hats.
I love
all things,
not just
the grandest, 
also
the 
infinite-
ly
small – 
thimbles, 
spurs,
plates,
and flower vases.

Oh yes,
the planet 
is sublime!
It’s full of pipes
weaving
hand-held
through tobacco smoke,
and keys
and salt shakers – 
everything,
I mean,
that is made 
by the hand of man, every little thing: 
shapely shoes,
and fabric,
and each new
bloodless birth
of gold,
eyeglasses
carpenter’s nails,
brushes,
clocks, compasses, 
coins, and the so-soft
softness of chairs.

Mankind has 
built 
oh so many
perfect
things!
Built them of wool
and of wood, 
of glass and
of rope: 
remarkable
tables, 
ships, and stairways.

I love
all
things,
not because they are
passionate
or sweet-smelling
but because,
I don’t know,
because
this ocean is yours,
and mine; 
these buttons
and wheels
and little
forgotten
treasures,
fans upon
whose feathers
love has scattered
its blossoms,
glasses, knives and
scissors – 
all bear
the trace
of someone’s fingers
on their handle or surface,
the trace of a distant hand
lost
in the depths of forgetfulness.

I pause in houses,
streets and 
elevators
touching things,
identifying objects
that I secretly covet; 
this one because it rings,
that one because 
it’s as soft
as the softness of a woman’s hip,
that one there for its deep-sea color,
and that one for its velvet feel.

O irrevocable 
river
of things: 
no one can say
that I loved
only
fish, 
or the plants of the jungle and the field, 
that I loved
only
those things that leap and climb, desire, and survive.
It’s not true: 
many things conspired
to tell me the whole story.
Not only did they touch me,
or my hand touched them: 
they were
so close
that they were a part
of my being,
they were so alive with me
that they lived half my life
and will die half my death.

12.01.2012

5th Annual Secular Holiday Digital Advent Calendar

Happy December Everyone! Please enjoy my 5th Annual Secular Holiday Digital Advent Calendar. It will be updated daily through December 24. You have to find the number that corresponds to the day of the month and click it for a special treat. Don't click ahead (you won't find anything there). Lots of fun and surprises in store! Come back everyday or on the 24th to see the entire calendar. Please feel free to share...