I thought I was dying, I felt the cold up close
and knew that from all my life I left only you behind:
my earthly day and night were your mouth
your skin the republic my kisses founded.
In that instant the books stopped
and friendship, treasures restlessly amassed,
the transparent house that you and I built:
everything dropped away, except your eyes.
Because while life harasses us, love is
only a wave taller than the other waves:
but oh, when death comes knocking at the gate,
there is only your glance against so much emptiness,
only your light against extinction
only your love to shut out the shadows.
Pablo Neruda
