If You Forget Me

If You Forget Me by Pablo Neruda

I want you to know
one thing.

You know 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 to 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,
as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving me.

I stumbled upon this poem when I was doing research about this great Chilean poet. While listening to Clint's masterpiece scores from Changeling, I kept on reading this piece over and over again until it came across my mind on how difficult it is for two souls embracing love.

In other event, I finally have seen The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The movie is stunning. Bolstered by cunningly directed cinematography, the movie has a story about the truth of life to tell.