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.

Lavinia Zainea

John Mole
 

Patinatorii

"Planeta asta mica si albastra gazduieste niste fiinte speciale-
Noi” Jeanette Winterson

Patinatorii de la Rockefeller Center
Cum fac in fiecare an
Au pus fierul pe gheata
In lanturi familiale lungi
Sau legaturi intime de cuplu

Si modelele pe care le deseneaza
Sunt frecventele
Unui Craciun la New York
Aparand pe unde
Cu acest mesaj global,

Ca iubirea e tenace
Ca fiecare suflare calda
Ce pluteste in eter
Prin neon incetosat
Vine infasurat in propria-I stralucire,

Ca din cauza pierderii lor
Sunt deja fantome,
Desi o mana inmanusata
Sau un brat petrecut in jurul unui mijloc
Va fi ceea ce-si vor aminti,

Si sa dispari neiubit
De pe aceasta mica planeta albastra,
Aceasta lume creata de noi
Cu gloria si greselile ei, e cel mai rau lucru care se poate intampla.

Astfel patinatorii se inghesuie
In Rockefeller Center
Mortii si viii
Cu o afirmare plina de vointa
Cu gratie ezitanta

In timp ce patinoarul lumineaza cu
stralucirea lui de diamant
Netemandu-se de umbrele crescande
Ale noptii
Si dincolo de cerul infinit.