Pressing Pause for Poetry: Pablo Neruda

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Until recently, all I knew of Pablo Neruda was that he was a poet, that my parents had some poster or cover from one of his books framed in our house when I was young, and that my brother, Peter, was often called "Pablo" by my Dad. But, when I stumbled across this poem by him a few weeks ago, I became much more interested in him and his poetry.

The following poem really spoke to me--I hope it speaks to you, as well! Plus, I think he does a beautiful job of touching on the idea of "pressing pause" in life...

Keeping Quiet

Keeping Quiet
Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still. This one time upon the earth,
let's not speak any language,
let's stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.

---

It would be a delicious moment,
without hurry, without locomotives,
all of us would be together
in a sudden uneasiness.

The fishermen in the cold sea
would do no harm to the whales
and the peasant gathering salt
would look at his torn hands.

Those who prepare green wars,
wars of gas, wars of fire,
victories without survivors,
would put on clean clothing
and would walk alongside their brothers
in the shade, without doing a thing.

What I want shouldn't be confused
with final inactivity:
life alone is what matters,
I want nothing to do with death.

If we weren't unanimous
about keeping our lives so much in motion,

if we could do nothing for once,
perhaps a great silence would
interrupt this sadness,
this never understanding ourselves
and threatening ourselves with death,
perhaps the earth is teaching us
when everything seems to be dead
and then everything is alive.

Now I will count to twelve
and you keep quiet and I'll go


Beautiful. Reminds us all to find a moment to be still, silent, and "without hurry" today. Take a moment to soak it up!

Namaste,
Mary Catherine