'A recourse against the meaningless noise'

“Language is what makes us human. It is a recourse against the meaningless noise and silence of nature and history.” – Octavio Paz
 

Born in Mexico on March 31, 1914 Paz represented his country as both a diplomat and a writer – primarily poetry.  He won three major awards, beginning with his own country’s Miguel de Cervantes Prize in 1981, then the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1982, and capping it with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1990.  For Saturday’s Poem, here is Paz’s,

 

                                                       The Bridge
                                                Between now and now,
                                                between I am and you are,
                                                the word bridge.

                                                Entering it
                                                you enter yourself:
                                                the world connects
                                                and closes like a ring.

                                                From one bank to another,
                                                there is always
                                                a body stretched:
                                                a rainbow.
                                                I'll sleep beneath its arches