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.

Laura Badea

John Mole
 

Patinatorii

“Aceasta mica planeta albastra adaposteste ceva special: pe noi insine”
Jeanette Winterson
Ca in fiecare an, patinatorii
De la Centrul Rockefeller
Au atacat gheata cu fier
Formand lanturi familiale extinse
Sau legaturi intime de cuplu.

Iar urmele lasate de ei pe gheata
Sunt frecventele
Unui Craciun la New York
Emise in aer
Cu urmatorul mesaj global

Iubirea e perseverenta,
Iar fiecare suflu cald
Care pluteste in eter
Sub lumina palida
E plin de stralucirea sa.

Sunt numai niste spirite
Pentru ca au pierdut deja,
Dar isi vor aminti, totusi,
De acea mana inmanusata,
De acel brat in jurul mijlocului.

Nu poate fi nimic mai rau
Decat sa dispari
De pe aceasta mica planeta albastra
Care e creatia noastra, a tuturor,
Glorioasa si plina de greseli,
Fara ca nimeni sa te fi iubit.

Asa ca patinatorii se ingramadesc
In Centrul Rockefeller,
Cei morti si cei vii,
Incapatanati
Cu gratie, ezitand,

Iar patinoarul straluceste
Diamantin
Netemator fata de umbrele
Care il impresoara in
Noaptea rece
Si dincolo de cerul nesfarsit.