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.

Irina Tuiu

John Mole
 

Patinatorii

"Aceasta mica planeta albastra este casa pentru ceva special-noi"
Jeanette Winterson

Patinatorii de la Centrul Rockefeller
Cum fac in fiecare an
Au pus fier pe gheata
In lanturi de familie extinse
sau legaturi intime de cuplu,
si sabloanele pe care le fac
sunt frecventele
Al Unui Craciun in New York
Iesind afara pe aer
Cu acest mesaj global,

Acea iubire este tenace,
Ca fiecare rasuflare calda
Care pluteste pe eter
Prin neonul innorat
Vine impletit in stralucirea lui,
Asta din cauza pierderii lor
Sunt stafii deja,
Desi o mana in manusa
Sau un brat in jurul incheieturii
Va fi ceea ce isi amintesc,

Si ca sa dispari neiubit
Din aceasta micuta planeta albastra
Aceasta lume a facerii noastre,
Este glorie si eroare,
Este cel mai rau din ce poate fi.

Deci patinatorii ingraditi
La Centrul Rockefeller
Cei morti si cei in viata
Cu afirmatie testamentara
O gratie ezitanta.

Cum ringul de gheata straluceste
In lumina lui de diamant
Netemator de umbrele ca de turn
Ale noptii reci
Si dincolo de cerul nesfarsit.