Pablo Neruda "I Do Not Love You"

Pablo Neruda, "Sonnet XVII"

I do not love you as if I were pink with salt, topaz

or arrow of carnations that propagate the fire:

I love you as you love certain dark things,

secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that does not flourish and bears

inside, hidden, the light of those flowers;

thanks to your love it lives dark in my body

the concentrated aroma that ascended from the earth.

I love you without knowing how, nor when, nor from where,

I love you directly without problems or pride:

so I love you because I can not love otherwise

that way, this way you are not and are not,

so close that your hand on my chest is mine,

so close that you close your eyes with my sleep.