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.

Oana Teodoroiu

John Mole
 

Patinatorii

Planeta aceasta mica si albastra este caminul cuiva special – al nostru.
Jeanette Winterson

Patinatorii de la Rockefeller Center,
Ca in fiecare an,
Pun patina pe gheata
In lanturi intinse, ca intr-o familie
Sau in legaturi intime de cuplu,

Iar modelele pe care le fac
Seamana frecventelor
Unui Craciun la New York.
Sa iesi luand aerul in piept
Purtand acest mesaj global,

Ca dragostea este tenace,
Ca fiecare rasuflare calda
Care pluteste in eter,
Prin lumina cetoasa de neon,
Pare incoronata de propria stralucire,

Ca din cauza pierderii suferite
Ei sunt deja stafii,
Desi o palma in manusa
Sau o mana in jurul taliei
Va fi tot ce isi vor aminti,

Iar disparitia, fara a fi iubit,
De pe aceasta planeta mica si albastra,
Din aceasta lume a crearii noastre,
Cu glorie si esecuri deopotriva,
E lucrul cel mai rau care se poate intampla.

Astfel, patinatorii, aduna laolalta
La Rockefeller Center
Totii mortii si toti viii
Cu o-ncapatanare darza,
Cu o gratie ezitanta,

La fel cum patinoarul straluceste
In luciu sau de diamant
Si nu se teme de umbrele
Ce se ridica in nopti reci,
De dincolo de cerul nesfarsit.