Full of October

I turned to poetry this weekend for company during my short travels. My bi-lingual edition of Isla Negra by Pablo Neruda includes an English translation by Alastair Reid. Although the collection of poems are autobiographical and likely should be read consecutively, I enjoyed randomly selecting a work and testing the memory of my Spanish before reviewing the translation in my native tongue. Love, war, friendships, places, emotions and observations are wrapped in a melody of words that captured my attention on a cool autumn day. One of my favorites from yesterday's read was Pleno octubre (October Fullness).

Pablo Neruda was the 1971 recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature; his Nobel Lecture as well as other bibliographical information can be found here.