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.

Elena Daniela Radu

John Mole
 

Patinatorii

Patinatorii de la Centrul Rockfeller
ca in fiecare an,
au pus otelul pe gheata,
in lanturi prelungite formate din familii
sau siruri intime de cupluri,

iar desenele lor pe gheata
sunt ceva obisnuit
pentru Craciunul la New York
care se transmite in direct
ca un mesaj global,

despre dragostea tenace,
ca fiecare respiratie calda
care pluteste in eter,
printre norii de neon
si se impleteste intr-o cununa de lumina,

deoarece disparitia lor,
ii transforma deja in fantome,
iar datorita maiini din manusa,
sau a bratului din jurul taliei,
nu vor fi uitati,

si ca, plecarea, fara sa fi fost iubiti,
de pe aceasta planeta micuta si albastra,
aceasta lume realizata de noi,
cu succesele si nereusitele ei,
este cel mai rau lucru care se poate intampla.

De aceea patinatorii se ingramadesc
la Centrul Rockfeller,
cei vii si cei morti,
cu o vointa care se reafirma,
o eleganta timida,

in timp ce patinoarul lumineaza
cu o stralucire de diamant,
fara sa se teama de turnurile de umbre
din noptile reci,
pana dincolo de cerul fara margini.