Ruth O’Callaghan

Chronicle

...On some days a plash of oars
breaks the sleek of water

and a ripple will rim towards us
eddying outwards in ever fainter circles

as history, once so delineated,
pales into uncertainty

under layers of time, of stories, told,
re-told, Chinese whispers

that hang in the air, re-defining dynasties,
empires, the cartographers’ art

begun in playgrounds where children edge
blues and reds, making squares triangles

in cheap colouring books,
so occupied with such small tasks

that the unseen oarsman
—had you forgotten him?—

rounds the bend while beyond,
where willows sweep the water

and shadows under trees remain motionless,
hanks of mist unravel

like sleeves of shop girls reaching out
in the narrowing of the day.

Brandusa Raileanu

Ruth O’Callaghan

Cronica

... Uneori un plescait de vasle
rupe luciul apei

si o unda ne incercuieste
reverberand in cercuri tot mai usoare

ca si istoria, odinioara bine infatisata,
dar palind tulbure

sub straturi de timp, de povestiri, spuse,
re-spuse, soapte chinezesti

plutind in aer, re-definind dinastii,
imperii, arta cartografilor

inceputa in joaca de copii scrijelind
albastruri si rosuri, schimband patratele in triunghiuri

in carti de colorat ieftine,
atat de ocupati cu micile lor indatoriri

pe care vaslasul nevazut
- l-ati uitat oare? –

isi rotunjeste meandre, in timp ce acolo
unde salciile matura apa

si umbrele incremenesc sub copaci,
caiere de ceata se desira

ca manecile vanzatoarelor intinzandu-se
in amurg.