Thursday, March 3, 2011

Pablo Neruda is a knitworthy poet

After reading this poem posted on Ravelry, I'm going to have to learn more about Pablo Neruda. I've never been a huge reader of poetry, but anyone who loves handmade socks that much deserves some consideration. Well, that and winning a Nobel prize.


Ode to a pair of socks
Maru Mori brought me 
a pair 
of socks 
that she knit with her 
shepherd’s hands. 
Two socks as soft 
as rabbit fur. 
I thrust my feet 
inside them 
as if they were 
two 
little boxes 
knit 
from threads 
of sunset 
and sheepskin.

My feet were 
two woolen 
fish 
in those outrageous socks, 
two gangly, 
navy-blue sharks 
impaled 
on a golden thread, 
two giant blackbirds, 
two cannons: 
thus 
were my feet 
honored 
by 
those 
heavenly 
socks. 
They were 
so beautiful 
I found my feet 
unlovable 
for the very first time, 
like two crusty old 
firemen, firemen 
unworthy 
of that embroidered 
fire, 
those incandescent 
socks.

Nevertheless 
I fought 
the sharp temptation 
to put them away 
the way schoolboys 
put 
fireflies in a bottle, 
the way scholars 
hoard 
holy writ. 
I fought 
the mad urge 
to lock them 
in a golden 
cage 
and feed them birdseed 
and morsels of pink melon 
every day. 
Like jungle 
explorers 
who deliver a young deer 
of the rarest species 
to the roasting spit 
then wolf it down 
in shame, 
I stretched 
my feet forward 
and pulled on 
those 
gorgeous 
socks, 
and over them 
my shoes.

So this is 
the moral of my ode: 
beauty is beauty 
twice over 
and good things are doubly 
good 
when you’re talking about a pair of wool 
socks 
in the dead of winter.

2 comments:

sara said...

Do you know about this group on ravelry?

http://www.ravelry.com/groups/crafting-poetry

Silver said...

Wow, I hadn't seen that one before, either. Funny, but awesome. Reminds me a bit of a page I saw years ago when I first started knitting, that had a Victorian (I think) poem with directions for actually knitting a pair of stockings.

 

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