Bonny

“Sonnet XVII

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way than this:

where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep. ”
― Pablo Neruda

“Don't bow down to critics who have not themselves written great masterpieces.”
― Lawrence Ferlinghetti, City Lights Pocket Poets Anthology

“Voracious reading was like an anesthesia, numbing me to the harsh life around me.”
― Mark Mathabane, Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography

“Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right.”
― Isaac Asimov, Foundation