Okay, first of all...I have to say that this may be the best fanfiction I have ever read. ever.

Second of all....I have to know...who did the translations of your Neruda poems? They are by-far the best I have ever encountered.

Author's Response:

First, KatieKoo, wow, that's really a wonderful compliment and thank you so much!

Second, I am screwed.  </Michael>  I could maybe retrace my steps to credit the translators, which is such a huge oversight on my part.  I feel awful about that and I can't believe I didn't have the presence of mind to do it at the time.  I can tell you that all of my sources are online and I can tell you that I spent several days researching.  The interview JKras gave mentioned sonnets, specifically, so I started there and researched several poets.  I got a little discouraged and even had a change of heart about doing poetry at all and started thinking (and talking to colette) about doing a novel within the story.  Anyway, I finally settled on Neruda after finding Sonnet XI and Sonnet XVII and The Song of Despair.  Here's where it goes fuzzy - I found these poems on several sites.  Some were bilingual, some were strictly in English.  I read several versions of each one until I felt comfortable with all the words and felt that I'd seen them repeated in enough places that they were commonly accepted and used.  I'assume you know these poems in their original Spanish.  I'd love to know more about the differences in your reactions to these poems based on the language.  Anyway, I'm pleased you think I've chosen well since I simply followed my gut.

Thank you so much for commenting and I hope you stick around - one more chapter and a short epilogue will do it, I think!