RUTH PADEL

Shadows Aren't Real

Shadows don't gather up your flowered skirt
After lifting it over your head,
Don't kiss it, bury their face in it,
Lay it softly on the bead. Catch a shadow
Slipping its hand
Inside your shirt - so gently, first,

A swarm of adoring bees
Come winding round your breast,
Making another skin, another mind
In which you live for this,
Only to be the place of rest
And homecoming for this one man.

You don't have baths with shadows.
They never sing. And when they lift
You to the draining board
For a higher level kiss
You don't feel you're been given
The world's whole history of gift.
 

Ioana Teodorescu

Ruth Padel
 

Umbrele nu sunt reale
 

Umbrele nu iti aduna fusta inflorata
ridicandu-ti-o deasupra capului.
nu o saruta, ingropandu-si fata in ea,
nu o aseaza incet pe pat. N-ai sa vezi nicicand o umbra
strecurandu-si mana
pe sub camasa ta , atat de delicat, intai,

un roi de albine indragostite
iti invaluie sanul,
creand o noua piele, o noua minte
in care doar pentru asta traiesti,
doar pentru a fi loc de odihna
si de intoarcere acasa unui singur barbat.

Nu te-mbaiezi cu umbrele.
Nu-ti canta niciodata. Si cand te ridica
deasupra scandurii de uscat rufe
pentru un sarut la un alt nivel
nu te simti de parca ai fi primit
istoria intreaga a darurilor lumii