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.

Laura Persoiu

John Mole
 

Patinatorii

“Aceasta micuta planeta albastra adaposteste ceva special – pe noi” Jeanette
Winterson

Patinatorii de la Centrul Rockefeller
Asa cum fac in fiecare an
Si-au lipit otelul de gheata
In lanturi intinse de familii
Sau legaturi intime de cupluri,

Si desenele pe care le fac
Sunt frecventele
Unui Craciun in New York
Pierzandu-si rasuflarea
Cu acest mesaj universal,

Ca iubirea este staruitoare,
Ca fiecare rasuflare calda
Care pluteste in eter
Prin lumina difuza a neonului
Apare rasucita in stralucirea lui,

Aceasta din cauza pierderii lor
Sunt deja fantome
Desi o mana intr-o manusa
Sau un brat prins de mijloc
Va fi tot ce isi vor aminti,

Si sa dispara neiubiti
De pe aceasta mica planeta albastra,
Aceasta lume creata de noi,
Gloria si greselile,
Este cel mai rau lucru care se poate intampla.

Asa ca patinatorii se aduna
La Centrul Rockefeller,
Mortii si vii
Cu o afirmatie hotarata,
O gratie ezitanta

Pe cand patinoarul luceste
In stralucirea lui de diamant
Fara sa-i fie frica de umbrele amenintatoare
Ale noptii reci
Si dincolo de cerul infinit.