I ask for Silence

Now they leave me in peace
Now they grow used to my absence.

I am going to close my eyes.

I wish for five things only,
five chosen touchstones.

One is prepetual love.

The second is to see the autumn.
I cannot exist without leaves
flying
and falling to earth.

The third is the solemn winter,
the rain I loved, the caress
of fire
in the rough cold.

Fourthly, the summer,
plump as a watermelon.

And, fifth, your eyes.
Matilda, my dear love,
I will not sleep wothout your eyes.
I will not exist but in your gaze.
I adjust the spring
for you to follow me with your eyes.

. . .

Pablo Neruda