IOANA IERONIM

Fragments


we must have met before, Miss,
do you remember where it might have been?

I do not think so – – but yes, o yes
we may have been those cool stones
set side by side on velvet
in Alladin’s cave

… or two horses galloping in the wind
on the continent of Gondwana

yet I remember, I think I do
it was in London one evening
or was it Bucharest still, Washington, Paris,
Vienna, Prague, Barcelona, Istanbul
Galway, New York?
it was cloudy as I recall
and a big merry crowd indoors

no-no, you may still keep in mind
that nest of hidden embers -
we had been lost from our caravans,
it was at sunset
shadows were growing hungry tongues and…

I rather believe that we had been up early
it was the day of departure -
our hair was glistening
like dew-laden cobwebs in a vineyard,
ripening and golden

do you mean, when we had not yet been
thrown down from the Garden?

no
listen, now I think I really know
we were two miraculous serpents
chasing at one another
joyous in the world’s first ocean
the sun was melting in the water
at high noon
God Himself stood speechless
with the beauty of their motion

let me tell you, it must have been when we read
“I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till…” - could you imagine such
mandatory reading?

yeah, in such a place, at such time…

on that day, as you may recall, our hearts were smitten
and then of course we forgot

I say, Miss, we must have met before

you know, these things…

*

Wading in a gauze of words
up to our knees

entangled in lacy lines

like stones of Mesopotamia
that shed their light
in the dark
of a closed museum

*

She treads barefoot over the Threshold
and comes back
once and again.
She smoothes a path for me to remember

She tells me: "it’s just hide-and-seek
we’re pretending, as we did long ago
when we used to wait for Santa once a year
and for dad to come back from the prisoner camp,
you know"
“The Danube Canal…”
"Yes, remember, every day for so many years."

I’m looking at her small hands that used to play Czerny and Bach
and were held captive and entranced in numberless books
and they healed so many beloved and strangers
and raised beautiful kids

she, who has never lost her own kind of marveling
marvelous eyes.

"Neither is this for good now", she says
"we just leave the door half-open when we go."

From her darkening room
we can see the garden melting in radiant sun
this year's Indian summer

black ripe grapes hang around her window panes,
she wonders whether anyone will be able
to cover the vine against the frost - after

she tries to explain again how that should be done

then she says to me: "hey traveler
you have always returned, maybe
you've never been truly
away

do not forget to spread crumbs of love behind you
now when you leave,
thus we may find our way back
even from that
far”

…

it is then that you put your hands over my face
for a moment
then you let go
you who know about these things

do not avert your eyes, you said,
in the light
decreasing

in the light’s
intense
wakeful
clarity

*

Pacing the long trail of parchment
with freshly written rows
still wet

coming toward one another
along written lines that show the way

until we are here
under the horns of the moon
and words of several languages
fall vertical
heavy

and our bare hands may feel the edge
where we were torn apart
at the time
when not all things had been named yet.

One day we may be able to write
some of these names of things, forgotten
or hardly ever known

words
that could not be heard in the beginning
or have hardly been uttered
since

Florentina Yvonne Penciu

Ioana Ieronim
 

Fragmente
 

domnisoara, sigur ne-am mai intalnit,
va amintiti ?

Nu prea - - sau da, ba da,
poate om fi fost acele pietre reci
stand una langa alta pe catifea
in pestera lui Alladin

…sau doi cai galopand in vant
pe continentul Gondwana

si totusi imi amintesc, sau cred,
era la Londra intr-o seara
sau la Bucuresti? Washington, Paris,
Vienna, Praga, Barcelona, Istanbul
Galway, New York ?
era innorat asa imi amintesc
si o multime vesela inauntru

nu, nu, poate iti mai aduci aminte de
cuibul de taciuni ascunsi –
ne-am pierdut de caravane,
era la apus
umbrele se faceau limbi infometate si…

Inclin sa cred ca ne trezisem devreme
-era ziua plecarii-
parul ne stralucea
ca panza de paianjen acoperita de roua
in via coapta si aurie

vrei sa spui, cand inca nu fusesem
alungati din Gradina ?

nu
asculta, acum cred ca stiu
eram doi serpi miraculosi
vanandu-se unul pe altul
voiosi in oceanul originar
-soarele se topea in apa
in miezul zilei
Dumnezeu insusi incremenise
la vederea miscarii lor splendide

Sa-ti spun, sigur a fost cand citeam
‘’Ma intreb, zau asa, ce-am facut tu si eu
pana… » - iti poti imagina
asemenea lectura obligatorie ?

da, in asemenea loc, la acel timp…

in ziua aceea, cum poate iti amintesti, inimile noastre erau atat de inflacarate

si pe urma, am uitat, desigur

Cum ziceam, Domnisoara, sigur ne-am mai intalnit

Stiti si dumneavoastra…

*

Ne cufundam pana la genunchi
intr-o increngatura de cuvinte

ne impiedicam in linii dantelate

ca statuile din Mesopotamia
lucind
in bezna
unui muzeu inchis.

*

Ea paseste desculta peste Prag
si se intoarce
iar si iar.
Netezeste calea ca sa mi-o amintesc

Imi spune: “ne jucam de-a v-ati-ascuns”
ne prefacem doar, cum faceam demult
cand il asteptam pe Mos o data pe an
si pe tata sa se intoarca de la canal”
“Da, pe tata, zi de zi, an dupa an.”

Ma uit la mainile ei mici care cantau Czerny si Bach
captive in mreaja infinitelor carti
ce-au vindecat persoane dragi, straini
si au crescut copii frumosi

ea, care nu si-a pierdut nicicand uimirea
din ochii mari.

„Ca doar nu-i pe veci”, spune ea
„lasam usa intredeschisa cand plecam.”

Din gradina intunecoasa
vedem gradina topindu-se in soarele torid
-vara aceasta indiana

struguri negri copti atarna de fereastra,
ea se intreaba daca va sti cineva
sa apere via de inghet-si dupa

si incearca sa explice cum trebuie facut

apoi imi spune:”hei, calatorule!
tu, care te-ai intors mereu, poate,
nicicand n-ai fost
plecat

nu uita sa lasi in urma farame de iubire
acum ca pleci,
sa ne gasim calea de intoarcere
chiar si de
acolo”

---

atunci mi-ai acoperit fata cu mainile
clipa
apoi te-ai indepartat
-tu, care stii,

nu-ti feri privirea, ai zis,
in lumina
mereu mai scazuta

in veghea
intensa si clara
a luminii

*

Pasim pe lunga cale a pergamentului
cu litere proaspat scrise
umede inca

ne apropiem unul de altul
printre literele care ne arata calea

pana ajungem aici
sub cornul lunii
iar cuvinte din limbi felurite
cad greu,
vertical

si mainile noastre goale simt urma
unde am fost rupti
atunci cand
nu toate aveau nume.

Candva, poate vom sti sa scriem
unele dintre aceste nume, uitate
sau stiute abia

cuvinte
ce, la-nceputuri, nu s-au prea auzit
sau n-au mai fost rostite
de atunci