After a Line of Neruda

Desnuda, eres tan simple como una de tus manos

Naked, only naked did I know you.
I, who had clothed you in my longing, now
Was undeceived. Naked in the darkness,
No longer blind.

Naked, we read the living text of skin,
Awakened into knowledge beyond naming,
Trading our newfound secrets silently
From lip to lip.

Bow strange to strip our lives off like old robes,
Dropped to the floor. Not caring what we’ll wear—
Centuries from now—when a new sun
Clothes us in light.

But naked in the night, we knew that we
Were flesh and nothing more. there was only now,
And our fingers shone brighter than the dawn
That made us part.