NIGEL WALKER

Norham Castle, sunrise... JMW Turner
 

The castle is an insubstantial mass,
small in the landscape,
but surely there, reflected in
what seems to be a film
of water lying in between some
even less substantial land
that's bracken brown.
A quadruped I take to be a cow
bends, drinking in.

What you have given us is yellow.
Anaemic ochre seeping in to warm and buoy
embracing all there is. The history,
the life, the geography. Bleached yellow,
starting, not full grown.
Yellow just waiting to be taught.

Conclusively, the light is dawn.
No other time of day would be
so pale or shadowless, so washed.
Character grows beyond this point
and days take on a memory of their own.
Swell out their diaries, histories
to weeks and months and years
and learn to love and hate.

Hilda Vekony

Nigel Walker
 

Castelul Norham, rasarit de soare… JMW Turner

Castelul e o masa fara substanta
Minuscul in peisaj
Dar cu siguranta acolo, reflectandu-se in
Ceea ce pare un film
De apa care intretaie vreun tinut
Chiar mai lipsit de substanta
Si maroniu ca feriga.
Un patruped care mi se pare a fi o vaca
Se apleaca si bea adanc.

Ceea ce ne-ai dat e galbenul.
Un ocru anemic infiltrandu-se pentru a se incalzi si a pluti
Cuprinzand tot ce exista. Istoria,
Viata, geografia. Galben descolorat,
Incipient, inca nedezvoltat complet.
Un galben care abia astepata sa fie invatat.

In concluzie, lumina e rasarit de soare.
Niciun alt moment al zilei nu ar putea fi
Atat de palid ori lipsit de umbra, atat de sters.
Caracterul creste dincolo de acest punct
Iar zilele prind o memorie doar a lor.
Intensifica jurnalele lor, evenimentele
In saptamani si luni si ani
Si invata sa iubesti si sa urasti.