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.

Ramona Zamfirescu

John Mole
 

Patinatorii

"Aceasta micuta planeta albastra este caminul a ceva special
– noi insine.” Jeanette Winterson

Patinatorii care vin la Rockefeller Center
Asa cum fac in fiecare an
Au inceput sa patineze pe gheata
Inlantuiti, familii intregi
Sau mai apropiati, in cuplu,

Si urmele pe care le lasa
Sunt ecourile
Unui Craciun la New York
Raspandidu-se in eter
Cu acest mesaj universal,

Ca dragostea este perseverenta,
Ca fiecare respiratie calda
Care pluteste in eter
Prin aerul aburind
Se intoarce inconjurata de stralucire,

Ca din cauza pierderii suferite
Sunt deja niste fantome,
Desi o mana invelita in manusa
Sau un brat in jurul unei talii
Vor fi amintirile lor,

Si sa dispari fara sa fi fost iubit
De pe aceasta micuta planeta albastra,
De pe aceasta lume pe care noi am creat-o,
Cu succesele si esecurile sale,
Este cel mai rau lucru care se poate intampla.

Asa ca patinatorii se strang
In Rockefeller Center,
Cei morti si cei vii
Cu o vointa vadita
Si o eleganta sovaielnica

Pe masura ce patinoarul straluceste
In lumina sa ca de diamant
Fara teama de obscuritatea covarsitoare
A noptii reci
Si dincolo de cerul nesfarsit.