NERUDA: POEM 15

I like you when you are silent because you are as if absent,

and you hear me from afar, and my voice does not touch you.

It seems that your eyes have flown away

and it seems that a kiss has closed your mouth.

As all things are full of my soul

you emerge from things, full of my soul.

Butterfly of sleep, you resemble my soul,

and you resemble the word melancholy.

I like you when you are silent and you are as if distant.

And you are as if complaining, butterfly in cooing.

And you hear me from afar, and my voice does not reach you:

let me be silent with your silence.

Let me speak to you also with your silence

clear as a lamp, simple as a ring.

You are like the night, silent and constellated.

Your silence is of a star, so distant and simple.

I like you when you are silent because you are as if absent.

Distant and painful as if you had died.

One word then, one smile is enough.

And I am glad, glad that it is not true.

#btc