Girl in a Hammock

 

girl hammock
Bella
Pablo Neruda

Bella,
como en la piedra fresca
del manantial, el agua
abre un ancho relámpago de espuma,
así es la sonrisa en tu rostro,
bella.

Bella,
de finas manos y delgados pies
como un caballito de plata,
andando, flor del mundo,
así te veo,
bella.

Bella,
con un nido de cobre enmarañado
en tu cabeza, un nido
color de miel sombría
donde mi corazón arde y reposa,
bella.

Bella,
no te caben los ojos en la cara,
no te caben los ojos en la tierra.
Hay países, hay ríos
en tus ojos,
mi patria está en tus ojos,
yo camino por ellos,
ellos dan luz al mundo
por donde yo camino,
bella.

Bella,
tus senos son como dos panes hechos
de tierra cereal y luna de oro,
bella.

Bella,
tu cintura
la hizo mi brazo como un río cuando
pasó mil años por tu dulce cuerpo,
bella.

Bella,
no hay nada como tus caderas,
tal vez la tierra tiene
en algún sitio oculto
la curva y el aroma de tu cuerpo,
tal vez en algún sitio,
bella.

Bella, mi bella,
tu voz, tu piel, tus uñas,
bella, mi bella,
tu ser, tu luz, tu sombra,
bella,
todo eso es mío, bella,
todo eso es mío, mía,
cuando andas o reposas,
cuando cantas o duermes,
cuando sufres o sueñas,
siempre,
cuando estás cerca o lejos,
siempre,
eres mía, mi bella,
siempre.

Portrait of Sonya the Red, Manager of Hotel California

romWhen my son was little, I told him stories of Sonya the Red, who rode through the sky on a chopped 8-valve Hog with ape handlebars, picking him up at night after his parents had fallen asleep.   We lived in Alaska at the time.  Red could be relied upon to come for him when the Northern Lights were out.

Dylan had to be careful when he went on escapades with Red because she would try to talk him into things that no sensible boy should do.  For example, she offered to take him to a tattoo parlor for his sixth birthday.   Sometimes they were chased by polar bears Sonya owed money to.   The vig was in salmon, and Dylan’s job was to throw them fish until they ate their fill and went away.

Red chewed Cougar snuff and wore Chanel Number Five, Goodwill evening gowns, and Harley-Davidson steel-toed boots.  She could cuss in several languages, including Chinese and Polar Bear, which sound a lot a lot alike.  Red smoked Montecristo No. 2 Cuban cigars and chewed Double Bubble gum at the same time.  Her breath was so pungent from eating fish and smoking cigars that when she popped her bubble gum flowers would wilt and clouds of mosquitos would fall out of the sky dead.

Red was the night manager of the 25-room Hotel California. She had a lot of pretty boys she called friends.  Normally, it was impossible to leave the hotel, but Red threatened to pop her gum and kill all the plants if they didn’t let her see her pajama-clad friend.  Dylan visited the Hotel California several times with Red.  He thought the people who stayed there were weird but interesting.  He especially liked Dylan Thomas, after whom he was named, and Jean-Paul Sartre, who wrote No Exit in room 32.