11 January 2004
It has been a few days since I’ve written. I spent the last weekend with my little daughter. I am amazed at how much she is changing: getting taller and thinner, more curves. My little girl is becoming a woman before my eyes. The changes happen so quickly. Time passes and she continues her growth and progress on a path that will lead her away from me. That is what parenting is about: saying goodbye to our children. Prepare them, love them, support them; but all in preparation for the day when they leave us. I never understood how bittersweet this is. On one hand she is doing what she is supposed to do, and doing it well. She is growing and becoming a beautiful and interesting woman. On the other hand, with every breath, every moment she is moving father from me. She is doing what she is supposed to do and it is good, but…
What do I have on-deck this week? I need to go to the county to get on the sub list, I have stuff for school that has to happen. I also want to begin work on my music. I just purchased a Telecaster… I have always been a fan of Fender Basses, owning two (a P-Bass and a fretless J-Bass) but have been ambivalent toward their guitars (I do love a Gibson Les Paul or an ES 335, gotta love that fat sound). I played this Telecaster and the neck felt good in my hand. Maple neck… its got that sharp Telecaster “twang.” I also have to work with my kids at school.
I do have to follow up on some money issues… got one problem sorted out, now I have to get another one off the decks. A phone call early in the morning is in order.
A quiet couple of days… nothing profound to say. Here is a poem by Pablo Neruda from his Twenty Songs of Love and One of Despair:
"Girl Lithe and Tawny"
By Pablo Neruda
Girl lithe and tawny, the sun that forms
the fruits, that plumps the grains, that curls seaweeds
filled your body with joy, and your luminous eyes
and your mouth that has the smile of the water.
A black yearning sun is braided into the strands
of your black mane, when you stretch your arms.
You play with the sun as with a little brook
and it leaves two dark pools in your eyes.
Girl lithe and tawny, nothing draws me towards you.
Everything bears me farther away, as though you were noon.
You are the frenzied youth of the bee,
the drunkenness of the wave, the power of the wheat-ear.
My somber heart searches for you, nevertheless,
and I love your joyful body, your slender and flowing voice.
Dark butterfly, sweet and definitive
like the wheat-field and the sun, the poppy and the water.
Mejor en Español...Niña morena y agil - Poema 19
Niña morena y agil, el sol que hace las frutas,
el que cuaja los trigos, el que tuerce las algas,
hizo tu cuerpo alegre, tus luminosos ojos
y tu boca que tiene la sonrisa del agua.
Un sol negro y ansioso se te arrolla en las hebras
de la negra melena, cuando estiras los brazos.
Tu juegas con el sol como un estero
y el te deja en los ojos dos oscuros remansos.
Niña morena y agil, nada hacia ti me acerca.
Todo de ti me aleja, como del mediodía.
Eres la delirante juventud de la abeja,
la embriaguez de la ola, la fuerza de la espiga.
Mi corazón sombrio te busca, sin embargo,
y amo tu cuerpo alegre, tu voz suelta y delgada.
Mariposa morena dulce y definitiva,
como el trigal y el sol, la amapola y el agua.
