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.

Andreea Banciu

John Mole
 

Patinatorii

“Aceasta micuta planeta albastra gazduieste ceva special – pe noi.”
Jeanette Winterson

Patinatorii de la Centrul Rockefeller
Au intrat cu patinele pe gheata,
in siruri lungi, de familii
sau legaturi intime de cuplu,
asa cum fac in fiecare an.

Si modelele pe care le creaza
sunt frecventele unui Craciun Newyorkez,
ce emit acest mesaj global,

Ca dragostea e tenace
ca fiece rasuflare ecalda
ce pluteste in eter,
prin neon incetosat,
soseste invaluita in propria stralucire,

ca prin pierderea lor
sunt deja fantome,
desi o mana inmanusata
sau un brat in jurul taliei
vor fi ce-si amintesc,

si ca cel mai rau lucru
ce se poate intampla
e sa pieri neiubit
de pe aceasta micuta planeta albastra,
aceasta lume a creatiei noastre,
glorie si greseala.

Astfel, patinatorii se aduna
la Centrul Rockefeller,
viii si mortii,
cu un juramant plin de vointa,
o gratie sovaielnica.

In stralucirea de diamant
a patinoarului,
fara teama de umbrele semete ale noptii
si dincolo de vazduhul fara sfarsit.