If You Forget Me By Pablo Neruda

This poem was written while Pablo Neruda was in exile from Chile, during
which time he was also having an affair with Matilde Urrutia, the woman who
would become his third wife. It is presumed the poem was written with Matilde
in mind, perhaps while she was in his presence. This poem shows how when
an individual consumes your thoughts, everything you see, hear, touch, or
experience reminds you of that person. It also shows that love can only last
when a relationship is cared for and not ignored. As soon as one person does
not see it as important, the relationship begins to wither.

I want you to know

one thing.

You know how this is:

if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,

the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set of
to seek another land.

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine.

Ako me zaboravi

Hou da znam
jednu stvar.
Zna kako je to
ako gledam
kristalni mesec, crvenu granu
spore jeseni u mom prozoru,
ako dotaknem
uz vatru neopipljiv pepeo
ili izborano telo klade,
sve me odvodi tebi
kao da je sve to postoji,
mirisi, svetlost, metali
poput barica to plove
ka ostrvima tvojim koja me ekaju.
E, pa dobro,
ako malo-pomalo prestane da me voli
i ja u prestati tebe da volim
malo-pomalo.

Ako me odjednom zaboravi

ne trai me
jer bih te ja ve zaboravio.
Ako smatra dugim i ludim
vetar zastava
to prolazi kroz moj ivot
i odlui
da me ostavi na obali
srca u kome imam korena
zapamti
da u toga dana,
toga asa
dii ruke
iupati svoje korene
u potrazi za drugim tlom.

Ali
ako svaki dan,
svaki sat,
pristane da mi bude sudbina
s neumoljivom slau,
ako se svakoga dana popne
jedan cvet do tvojih usana traei me
o ljubavi moja, o moja
u meni se sva ta vatra ponavlja,
u meni nita nije ugaeno ni zaboravljeno,
moja ljubav se hrani tvojom ljubavlju, ljubljena,
i sve dok ivi bie u tvojim rukama
ne naputajui moje.