Pablo Neruda’s poem, “Spring,” published in Fully Empowered (NYC: Farrar, 1962) reveals how each act we do, each step we take, however humble, matters immensely and brilliantly to who we are and our place on Mother Earth and to who we are becoming more deeply as human beings and creatures of the biosphere.
“Spring”
The bird has come/to bring light to birth./ From every trill of his,/ water is born./ And between water and light which unwind the air,/ now the spring is inaugurated / now the seed is aware of its own growing;/ the root takes shape in the corolla,/at last the eyelids of the pollen open./ All this accomplished by a simple bird/ from his perch on a green branch.
“La Primavera”
El pájaro ha venido/ a dar la luz: /de cada trino suyo / nace el agua./ Y entre agua y luz que el aire desarrollan/ ya está la primavera inaugurada/ ya sabe la semilla que ha crecido,/ la raíz se retrata en la corolla,/ se abren por fin los párpados del polen./ Todo lo hizo un pájaro sencillo/ desde una rama verde.
Step outside. Breathe. As the Bioneers love to remind us, “It’s all connected.” Ah, yes, we are all connected. Let’s act accordingly. Step by step, springy step by springy step, quite a march(ing).
Who Decides, Santa Monica? 