wordsmith

i am fond of reading. and i admire people who could weave words into a coherent image that would keep a reader thirsty for more. 
 
when gabriel garcia marquez retired from public life, he wrote the following:
 

If for an instant God were to forget that I am a rag
doll and gifted me with a piece of life,
possibly I wouldn't say all that I think,
but rather I would think of all that I say.
I would value things, not for their worth
but for what they mean.
I would sleep little, dream more,
understanding that for each minute
we close our eyes we lose sixty seconds of light.

I would listen when others talk,
and how I would enjoy a good chocolate ice cream!
If God were to give me a piece of life,
I would dress simply,
throw myself face first into the sun,
baring not only my body but also my soul.
My God, if I had a heart,
I would write my hate on ice,
and wait for the sun to show.
Over the stars I would paint with a Van Gogh
dream a Benedetti poem,
and a Serrat song would be
the serenade I'd offer to the moon.
With my tears I would water roses,
to feel the pain of their thorns,
and the red kiss of their petals...
 
My god, if I had a piece of life...
I wouldn't let a single day pass
without telling the people I love
that I love them.
I would convince each woman
and each man that they are my favorites,
and I would live in love with love.
I would show men how very wrong they are
to think that they cease to be in love
when they grow old,
not knowing that they grow old
when they cease to be in love!
To a child I shall give wings,
but I shall let him learn to fly on his own.
I would teach the old that death
does not come with old age,
but with forgetting.
 
So much have I learned from you, oh men...
 
I have learned that everyone wants to live
on the peak of the mountain,
without knowing that real happiness is in how it is scaled.
I have learned that when a newborn child squeezes
for the first time with his tiny fist his father's finger,
he has him trapped forever.
I have learned that a man
has the right to look down on another
only when he has to help the other get to his feet.
From you I have learned so many things,
but in truth they won't be of much use,
for when I keep them within this suitcase,
unhappily shall I be dying.