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‘Unclothed, you are true, like one of your hands’

XXVII From: ‘Cien sonetos de amor’  - Pablo Neruda


Unclothed, you are true, like one of your hands,
lissome, terrestrial, slight, complete, translucent,
with curves of moon, and paths of apple-wood:

Unclothed you are as slender as a nude ear of corn.
Undressed you are blue as Cuban nights,
with tendrils and stars in your hair,
undressed you are wide and amber,
like summer in its chapel of gold.

Naked you are tiny as one of your fingertips,
shaped, subtle, reddening till light is born,
and you leave for the subterranean worlds,
as if down a deep tunnel of clothes and chores:
your brightness quells itself, quenches itself, strips itself down
turning, again, to being a naked hand.

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Desnuda eres tan simple como una de tus manos, 
Lisa, terrestre, mínima, redonda, transparente, 
Tienes líneas de luna, caminos de manzana, 
Desnuda eres delgada como el trigo desnudo.

Desnuda eres azul como la noche en Cuba, 
Tienes enredaderas y estrellas en el pelo, 
Desnuda eres enorme y amarilla 
Como el verano en una iglesia de oro.


Desnuda eres pequeña como una de tus uñas,
Curva, sutil, rosada hasta que nace el día 
Y te metes en el subterráneo del mundo
Como en un largo túnel de trajes y trabajos:
Tu claridad se apaga, se viste, se deshoja 
Y otra vez vuelve a ser una mano desnuda.

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