IOANA IERONIM

Charms


Lions and lionesses stunned at one another
arrested in the field,
tender bulls, amorous goats
electrified and meek,
serpents dancing in the water and on scorched land
in a tall caduceus under their sun,
cells grazing at one another, rolling
roaring in stardust

As the sun comes and fills this house every morning
thus may you love and embrace me
as night falls with its soft darkness and stars from above
thus love and embrace me

as mirrors and windows and rivers and pools catch my radiance
and reflect it in space
may your eyes absorb that maze
and love and embrace me

*

snowdrops have pierced through lingering ice
gypsy girls sell basketfuls of them
in the street

snowflakes entangled in sunrays,
a soupcon of spring

a pomegranate from the Garden of Eden
has rolled at your feet

words radiating from under a stone
on an island which is there –
as much as King Arthur’s

tempo di minuetto

a wisp of wool that hasn’t been spun
has stuck to your heel

this day, out of all, for you
to pirouette away

as dreamlike and inexplicable
as when you stepped in

*

how many times did we listen to the same story as children
and wanted to listen again, all over again
as if in the meantime something might have been changed
though changed we didn’t want it

as if we looked for the spot where we might intervene
and stop the wolf, the dragon and the witch,
wipe away Death for good, with a leaf of the beasts’ weed
with a drop of living water that we had in our power

but when we tried to step across the threshold
the magic vessel would split and brake and hurt and vanish

and we absolutely had to listen to it once more
we had to try
again

Ruxandra Georgescu

Ioana Ieronim
 

Farmece

Lei si leoaice incremenesc unul catre altul,
asteptand in camp,
iata tauri firavi, capre dragastoase,
energice dar pasnice,
serpi dansand in apa si pe pamantul crapat
intr-o caducitate inaltatoare, sub soare,
in timp ce moleculele se ciocnesc rostogolindu-se
si urland intr-o reverie

Precum rasare soarele umpland casa aceasta in fiecare dimineata
astfel ma poti iubi si-mbratisa
precum se lasa noaptea cu o intunecime delicata si stele pe cer,
astfel sa ma iubesti si sa ma imbratisezi.

Precum oglinzi si ferestre si rauri si iazuri imi surprind stralucirea
si o reflecta in spatiu,
astfel sa absorbi din ochi acel labirint
si sa ma iubesti si-mbratisezi.

*

ghioceii au strapuns gheata staruitoare
si acum tigancile ii vand in cosulete
in plina strada.

Fulgii de nea s-au impletit in razele de soare
ca indiciu al primaverii

rodie din Gradina Raiului
s-a rostogolit la picioarele noastre

cuvintele lucesc de sub o piatra

pe o insula care dăinuie
precum cea a lui Arthur

in pas de menuet

un smoc de lana ce n-a fost tors
s-a lipit de calcaiul tau

tocmai azi din toate zilele, pentru tine,
ca sa pluteasca mai departe

ca intr-un vis si nedeslusit
ca atunci cand ai păşit.

*

de cate ori n-am ascultat aceeasi poveste in copilarie
si am vrut sa ascultam iarasi si iarasi
ca si cand intre timp ceva s-ar fi schimbat
desi n-am fi vrut nici o schimbare.

ca si cand cautam momentul cand sa intervenim
si sa oprim lupul, dragonul si vrajitoarea,
sa seceram Moartea pe veci,
sau cu o picatura de apa vie pe care o detineam.

dar cand am incercat sa calcam dincolo de prag
corabia magica se destrama, se-oprea, disparand ranita
astfel trebuia neaparat sa mai ascultam o data
si sa incercam
din nou.