I recently came across the most beautiful poem by Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.
I was having a fairly stressful day, with work getting on top. As I entered the train, listening to a selection of poems on my iPod, this came on and blew me away.
It really is life changing.
For me the poem is asking us to stop the striving, stop the attachment, and to just be here in the stillness of like for a while; so that we might realize the beauty of just being over constantly doing and wanting to move forward.
I mean, where are we going to? What will we do when we get there? What are we running from? Death perhaps? No one can escape that. Life is death, and even out of death comes life.
For me these words are so powerful;
If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.
Perhaps the earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.
I mean, what else is there to say?
I recorded it myself on the video below; I am under no illusion that my voice and style does it any justice. I tried a few times but I seemed to be getting worse. Anyway, the words are here if you can't stand my voice 🙂 Enjoy.
