Love Sonnet XVII
by Pablo Neruda
I don’t love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as certain dark things are loved,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom and carries
hidden within itself the light of those flowers,
and thanks to your love, darkly in my body
lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth.
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you simply, without problems or pride:
I love you in this way because I don’t know any other way of loving
but this, in which there is no I or you,
so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,
so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.
Read this beautiful sonnet to your mate on Valentine’s Day. There’s time to learn it and recite it after dinner when the children have been put to bed. Enjoy your favorite beverage in the ambiance of a candlelit room filled with soft tunes. Forget about any challenges you face. Give your sweetheart all of you and demand all of him/her. Stimulate each other’s senses with whisperings of sweet nothings and hints of everything to come.
It’s perfectly fine to break from tradition or create a new one. Provide flowers and chocolates if you desire. This True Love Stimulus Plan will overshadow any plan coming from Congress and you can guarantee your loved ones will be the sole beneficiary.
