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.

Dana Constantinescu

Nigel Walker
 

Rasarit la castelul Norham ,...JMW Turner

Castelul este o aglomeratie infima,
Sarac in peisaj,
Dar care totusi exista, reflectat in
Ceea ce pare un film
De apa intre
Un si mai infim teren
De culoarea ferigilor.
Un patruped ce-mi pare a fi o vaca
Se apleca sa bea.

Ceea ce ne-ai dat e galben.
Un ocru palid prelingandu-se in cald si margine
Imbratisand totul. Istoria,
viata, geografia. Galben palid,
tasnind, necresut pe deplin.
Galbenul ce asteapta sa fie invatat.

Concluzionand, lumina inseamna zori.
Niciun alt moment al zilei n-ar fi
Asa palid sau fad, asa spalacit.
Caracterele se dezvolta dincolo de acest punct
Iar zilele preiau propria amintire.
Exagereaza jurnalele, istoriile
Pana la saptamani si luni si ani
Si invata sa iubeasca sau sa urasca.