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.

Hilda Vekony

John Mole
 

Patinatorii

"Aceasta mica planeta albastra gazduieste ceva special—pe noi”
Jeanette Winterson

Patinatorii de la Centrul Rockefeller
Ca in fiecare an
Au pus fier pe gheata
In siruri familiale extinse
Ori legaturi intime ale perechilor.

Iar modelele pe care le fac
Sunt frecventele
Unui Craciun newyorchez
Calatorind in aer
Cu mesajul lor universal,

Acela ca iubirea e tenace,
Ca fiecare suflu fierbinte
Care pluteste in eter
Printr-un neon cetos
Soseste inconjurata de lumina acestuia

Ca, din cauza a ceea ce au pierdut
Sunt fantome deja,
Desi o mana inmanusata
Ori un brat petrecut in jurul unui mijloc
Va fi ceea ce-si vor aminti,

Iar a disparea lipsiti de iubire
De pe aceasta mica planeta albastra
De pe aceasta lume faurita de noi,
Din gloria si erorile ei,
E cel mai rau lucru ce ni se poate intampla.

Astfel, multimea de patinatori se aduna
La Centrul Rockefeller,
Viii si mortii
Cu voita afirmare,
Cu o gratie ezitanta

Iar patinoarul straluceste
In lumina sa de diamant
Nefiind constient de umbrele
Uriase ale noptii reci
Si dincolo de cerul nesfarsit.