O mesmo pela manhã, ainda que de tarde, mas sou de noite. Amo-te como o passar das horas, lentamente e vagarosamente. Sou sol.

it makes me want to fall in love every time i read this. dangerous.

I found Neruda because of rap music and magpies. I was sitting on the floor of a local bookstore, running my fingers across the spines of poetry books, picking out ones here and there, as you do. Neruda's name was already familiar to me because it is mentioned in one of my favourite songs, Almost Cut my Hair (for Crosby) by Milo –  "reading Pablo Neruda and feeling small now". I didn't know at the time why this author made him feel small, but I think I understand now; "I toil deftly, circling above myself." When I came across his name at the store I picked out the book, thinking I'd have a quick flick through. As soon as I saw the cover I knew I'd buy it; it's a picture of Pablo, mid-laugh with a magpie sitting on his head. Anyone who knows me knows that I love birds, and magpies have always had a special place in my heart. Now, so does Neruda. "...spread like the lunar wave of a just created ocean  over lands and shorelines tormentedly deserted. Oh, let what I am keep existing and ceasing to exist, and let my obedience align itself with such iron conditions that the quaking of deaths and of births doesn't shake the deep place I want to reserve for myself eternally. Let me, then, be what I am, wherever and in whatever weather, rooted and certain and ardent witness..."