Chile: sculpture contest on poet Pablo Neruda

This video says about itself:

Poem “If You Forget Me” by Pablo Neruda, read by Madonna.

A tribute to the Poet. The lovely lady in the photograph is Clara Bow from the movie Wings.

If You Forget Me

I want you to know
one thing.

You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine.

Pablo Neruda

From Inside Costa Rica:

Chile Calls Neruda Sculpture Bids

Under the title “A Place for Memory,” the Chilean Foreign Relations Ministry called for a sculptural contest dedicated to the life, work and sensitivity of the Literature Nobel Prizewinner Pablo Neruda.

At a presentation of the initiative, head of that ministry Alejandro Foxley explained they seek a place to pay homage to the poet in “Cantalao,” a former Neruda property presently belonging to the Foundation named after him.

“His centennial celebration in 2004 provided the opportunity to corroborate the real international reach of his figure, his universal nobility and multiple sides as writer, diplomat and politician,” he remarked.

Projects will be received by the Chilean Foreign Relations Ministry August 20-24, 2007.

Chilean poetess Gabriela Mistral: here.

Mexican literature: here.