Brown and Agile Child

Brown and Agile Child

Brown and agile child, the sun which forms the fruit

And ripens the grain and twists the seaweed

Has made your happy body and your luminous eyes

And given your mouth the smile of water.

A black and anguished sun is entangled in the twigs

Of your black mane when you hold out your arms.

You play in the sun as in a tidal river

And it leaves two dark pools in your eyes.

Brown and agile child, nothing draws me to you,

Everything pulls away from me here in the noon.

You are the delirious youth of bee,

The drunkedness of the wave, the power of the heat.

My somber heart seeks you always

I love your happy body, your rich, soft voice.

Dusky butterfly, sweet and sure

Like the wheatfiled, the sun, the poppy, and the water.

Pablo Neruda