a poem by pablo neruda
 youth 


a scent like a sword forged with the acid 
of plums found by a road, 
the sugary kisses that linger in the teeth, 
the drops of life sprinkling on the fingertips, 
the sweet erotic heart, 
the yards, the haystacks, the inviting 
secret rooms in the vast houses, 
matresses sleeping in the past, the raging green valley 
seen from above, from a hidden window: 
adolescence all flickering and burning 
like a lamp knocked over in the rain
 
  translated by evan stephens