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.

Iulia Gabriela Anchidin

John Mole
 

Patinatorii

Aceasta mica planeta albastra gazduieste ceva special-
pe noi. Jeanette Winterson

Patinatorii de la centrul Rockefeller
Si-au pus patina pe gheata
Ca in fiecare an
In familii extinse
Sau legaturi intime de cuplu,

Si exemplul pe care-l dau
E petrecerea frecventa a
Craciunului la New York
Transmitand la radio
Acest mesaj global,

Ca dragostea e tenace,
Ca fiecare rasuflare calda
Care pluteste in eter
Prin lumina difuza de neon
Vine invaluita in stralucire,

Ca din cauza pierderii lor
Deja sunt stafii,
Desi de o mana-n mana
Sau de un brat in jurul taliei
Ei isi vor aminti,

Si sa dispari neiubit
De pe aceasta mica planeta albastra,
Aceasta lume a facerii noastre,
Cu gloria si greseala ei,
E cel mai rau lucru ce se poate intampla.

Asa ca patinatorii s-au adunat
La centrul Rockefeller,
Vii si morti
Cu sustinere voita,
O gratie ezitanta

Asa cum patinuarul straluceste
In stralucire de diamante
Fara teama de ale noptii reci
Umbre semete
Si dincolo de cerul nemarginit.