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.

Gabriela Anton

John Mole
 

Patinatorii

“Cineva deosebit locuieste pe aceasta planeta albastra – respectiv noi”. Jeanette Winterson

Patinatorii de la Rockefeller Center
Ca in fiecare an
Au pus fierul pe gheata
In verigi de familii extinse
Sau legaturi intime, de cuplu,

Iar urmele lor
Sunt frecventele
Unui Craciun newyorkez
Ce transmite pe calea undelor
Acest mesaj global,

Cum ca dragostea este tenace,
Ca fiecare rasuflare calda
Ce pluteste in eter
Prin lumina neonului innourat
Ajunge vesteda in stralucirea sa,

Ca in urma unei pierderi
Ei au ajuns deja fantome,
Desi mana din manusa
Sau bratul petrecut in jurul taliei
Sunt amintirea ce le va ramane,

Iar sa dispari neiubit
De pe micuta planeta albastra,
Din lumea aceasta pe care noi am facut-o,
Din gloria si nereusita acesteia,
Este cel mai rau lucru ce se poate intampla.

Asa ca patinatorii dau navala la
Rockefeller Center,
Mortii si viii
Cu avant deliberat,
O gratie stangace

In timp ce ringul de gheata straluceste
In lumina sa diamantina
Netemator de umbrele gigante ale
Noptii reci
Dincolo de cerul nesfarsit.