Dense — Spring, Yellows and Whites

Spring in the Back Yard, 2017

After a wet winter, the back yard is dense with color: yellow rose, and flowering cherry are in full bloom while the oranges continue to ripen and our camellia opens new blooms daily. This is a great time to be outdoors.

Ode to the Present

This
moment,
as smooth
as a board,
and fresh,

this hour
this day
as clean
as an untouched glass

— not a single
spiderweb
from the past:

we touch
the moment;
with our fingers,
we cut it
to size,

we direct
its blooming.
It’s living,
It’s alive:

it brings nothing
from yesterday that can’t be redeemed,
nothing from the lost past.

[…]
— Ode to the present, Pablo Neruda (translated by Ken Krabbenhoft), Odes to Opposites, Bulfinch Press, 1999

I encourage you to read the original, Oda al presente, at the Neruda website here. The first lines of the untranslated original follow:

ODA AL PRESENTE

ESTE
presente
liso
como una tabla,
fresco,
esta hora,
este día
limpio
como una copa nueva
—del pasado
no hay una
telaraña—,
tocamos
con los dedos
el presente,
cortamos
su medida,
dirigimos
su brote,
está viviente,
vivo,
nada tiene
de ayer irremediable,
de pasado perdido, …

Cheers, Carto

But “dense” has many meanings that inspire bloggers: WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Dense.

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