"If You Forget Me"

by Pablo Neruda

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 off

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...

hhhmm… I’ve posted this earlier but I failed to explain why… but here it is now…
uhm,this is a poem by Pablo neruda, one of the world’s most renowned poets… well, I need not explain why I chose this, because I know for sure that those who know me really well would know exactly why…

this is for Orby: as you said we are only passing each other’s lives mainly to leave a mark- a very valuable lesson that is. I couldn’t help but agree… yes, People come and people go… that is inevitable. It is a fact of life that everything that begins has to end. And if it is for us to end then so be it. If you ask that I may leave you alone in peace, then I will (even if I don’t want to)… And if you wish to leave me, then do so. Don’t think of what I’ll feel or how will I go on… coz certainly time will heal it all and I’ll be able to carry on. Though, it’ll take an awful lot of time.. I’ll agree if that’s what you think is the best for us. I don’t have to disprove anything, provided that I’d be given a reasonable cause. I’ll be in pain of course, I’ll be a hypocrite if I don’t say so… I may wallow in sadness for quite a while.. but maybe I can go on along just fine. I may be haunted by sweet memories but I may forget them.. I may walk around faking smiles… I may lament and mourn for a while… but maybe time will make me forget… time can erase it all… maybe I can recover after such fall… yes, if you forget me… it’ll hurt but I’m going to be fine… but if ever you need me back I’ll never decline…