Neruda

"You don't want to answer me.

But the questions do not die."

- Consequences, Extravagaria 1958


"Wandering love, I come back
with this heart both fresh and wearied,
belonging to water and sand,
to the dry spaces of the shore,
to the white war of the foam."

- Here, there, everywhere, Extravagaria 1958



All throughout Pablo Neruda's collections, Extravagaria and Fully Empowered, the books resulting from his return to Chile, I can't help but notice the recurring reference to "foam." These are his most personal works, derived from his autumn-minded journey, from his autumnal period, a testament to his "coming to rest." As a rediscovery of his home, both native land and sea, I understand the importance of season and the Pacific coast in his recollection. Though in my own wanderings, I too came to use the word "foam" very often during my writings last summer, all before my introduction to this man's vast, immense body of work. Just as any other time in life when this common happening is noticed, I have to wonder how this translates from generation to generation, from artist to artist -- the attachment to either sensation or perspective and a reluctance to let go, when the internal ashes have yet to settle.