translated from the Spanish by William O’Daly

Matilde, years or days
sleeping, feverish,
here or there,
gazing off,
twisting my spine,
bleeding true blood,
perhaps I awaken
or am lost, sleeping:
hospital beds, foreign windows,
white uniforms of the silent walkers,
the clumsiness of feet.

And then, these journeys
and my sea of renewal:
your head on the pillow,
your hands floating
in the light, in my light,
over my earth.

It was beautiful to live
when you lived!

The world is bluer and of the earth
at night, when I sleep
enormous, within your small hands.

Copyright Credit: Pablo Neruda, “Finale,” translated by William O’Daly, from The Sea and the Bells. Copyright © 1973 by Pablo Neruda and the Heirs of Pablo Neruda. Translation copyright © 1988, 2002 by William O’Daly. Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press.