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.

Eliza Pintilie

John Mole
 

Patinatorii

“Planeta asta albastra gazduieste ceva special –
pe noi.” Jeanette Winterson

Patinatorii care vin la Rockefeller Center
Ca in fiecare an
Si-au pus patinele pe gheata
Formand lanturi pe familii
Sau legati intim cate doi, pe cupluri,

Si tiparele pe care le formeaza
Descriu undele
Unui Craciun la New York
Care difuzeaza
Acest mesaj global,

Cum ca iubirea e tenace
Si orice rasuflare calda
Plutind in eter
Prin bolta innorata,
Vine incununata de lumina ei,

Cum ca, prin prisma pierderii lor,
Ei sunt deja naluci,
Caci o mana tinand o alta mana cu manusa
Sau un brat in jurul taliei
Vor fi singurele lucruri pe care si le vor aminti,

Si ca sa pieri de fara a fi iubit
De pe aceasta planeta albastra,
Aceasta lume creata de noi,
Cu gloria si teroarea ei,
Este cel mai rau lucru care se poate intampla.

Asa ca patinatorii se inghesuie sa intre
In Rockefeller Center,
Disparuti, dar si vii
Cu hotarare neclintita
Si gratie ezitanta

In timp ce gheata straluceste
Cu luciri de diamante
Nemiscata in fata umbrelor
Semete ale noptii reci
Si a cerului nesfirsit.