Smooth Talker

There and not there

In the space where I thought I had met you,

I have found a pebble.

All my love reduced to a pebble.

Unlike some people, I refuse to talk to a pebble.

Sometimes I see shadows moving,

hear voices whispering,

and think, My rescuers have come.

With tools and spectacles, they study the pebble,

which I insist is not mine, and they leave.

I have memories in chaos.

Words, songs, scenes, moments:

All mishandled; best forgotten.

I look for recognition, and ask

If you have left the key with me.

You made me see beyond this space and time,

Challenged me to reach,

Encouraged me to leap,

And left me in the air.

I should not be so surprised.

With teetering faith and questions upon questions,

I walk back and forth.

Your pebble is a smooth pendant I hang on my neck,

A rock weighing me down,

The universe outside of me.

I am at once a feeling being,

Exposed for the world to see,

And I am free.

What can a pebble do to me?

Nothing.

If You Forget Me

Since Dred posted Pablo Neruda's "I Like for You to be Still" as read by Glenn Close, I wanted to look for Madonna's version of "If You Forget Me". As Dred said, Madonna nailed this one. I saw this video prepared by a fan on YouTube.

Here are the words so you can sing, I mean, read along just like videoke:

If You Forget Me

I want you to know one thing.

You know how this is:
if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine.



It's from the soundtrack of the movie Il Postino. Get the CD and accompanying book if you still don't have it in your library. Worth every centavo.

Isyu ng Babae

Isyu ng Babae
Ella del Rosario

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