JOHN MOLE

The Skaters

'This tiny blue planet is home to something special - ourselves.’
Jeanette Winterson

The skaters at the Rockefeller Center
As they do each year
Have set iron to ice
In extended family chains
Or intimate links of coupledom,

And the patterns they make
Are the frequencies
Of a New York Christmas
Going out on the air
With this global message,

That love is tenacious,
That every warm breath
Which floats on the ether
Through clouded neon
Comes wreathed in its glow,

That because of their loss
They are ghosts already,
Though a hand in a glove
Or an arm round a waist
Will be what they remember,

And to vanish unloved
From this tiny blue planet,
This world of our making,
Its glory and error,
Is the worst that can happen.

So the skaters crowd in
To the Rockefeller Center,
The dead and the living
With willed affirmation,
A hesitant grace

As the ice-rink shines
In its diamond brightness
Unafraid of the cold night's
Towering shadows
And beyond the endless sky.

Dana Nicorici

John Mole
 

Patinatorii

“Planeta asta micuta este casa pentru ceva special- noi insine’’- Jeanette Winterson


Skaterii de la Rockefeller Center
Cum fac in fiecare an
Si-au pus patinele de fier pe gheata
In lanturi familiale extinse
Sau in inlantuiri intime de cate doi.

Si figurile pe care le fac
Au regularitatea
Unui Craciun la New York
Ce invaluie atmosfera
Cu mesajul sau global,

Ca iubirea e rezistenta,
Ca fiecare rasuflare calda
Care pluteste in vazduh
Prin neon intunecat
Vine infasurat in stralucirea-i,

Ca pierderea suferita
I-a transformat deja in fantome.
Desi o mana intr-o manusa
Sau un brat in jurul unei talii
Va fi ceea ce-si vor aminti,

Si sa pieri neiubit
De pe-aceasta micuta planeta albastra,
Din lumea asta, pe care noi am creat-o,
Cu gloria si erorile sale,
Este cel mai rau lucru cu putinta.

Astfel ca skaterii se-ngramadesc
In Rockefeller Center,
Cei morti si cei vii
Cu pareri solemne,
O gratie ezitanta.

Iar patinoarul luceste
In stralucirea-i de diamant,
Fara frica de umbrele inalte
ale noptii reci
Si dincolo de cerul infinit.