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.

Oana-Teodora Ionescu

John Mole
 

Patinatorii

“Aceasta planeta mica albastra adaposteste ceva deosebit
– pe noi. Jeanette Winterson

Ca in fiecare an,
Patinatorii de la Rockefeller Center
Au intrat cu patinele pe gheata
Formand siruri lungi de familie
Sau intime verigi-pereche,

Iar urmele pe care le lasa
Sunt frecventele
Unui Craciun la New York
Care se propaga in eter
Purtand acest mesaj global,

Ca daragostea e staruitoare,
Ca fiecare rasuflare calda
Ce pluteste in vazduh
Prin neonul intunecat
Vine impletita in aura ei,

Ca din cauza pierderii lor
Sunt deja fantasme,
Desi ceea ce-si vor aminti
Va fi o mana intr-o manusa
Sau un brat in jurul mijlocului,

Si ca cel mai greu de suportat
Este disparitia
De pe planeta asta mica albastra,
De noi plasmuita,
Cu desavarsirea si greselile ei,
Fara a fi cunoscut iubirea.

Si, astfel, patinatorii se aduna
La Rockefeller Center,
Mortii si vii
Cu gesturi voite
Si gratie sovaielnica

Pe cand ringul sclipeste
In stralucirea-i de diamant
Fara sa se teama de umbrele inalte
Ale noptii
Si dincolo de vazduhul nesfarsit.