IOANA IERONIM

Fragments


I can see a road leaving the village,
going across the field
serpentine
still further into fine paths
losing itself in the woods

flocks of sheep
having come down from the mountains
slowly advance in rows
on hill after hill

my train glides at the same pace

it has started snowing slowly
in my native land -
flakes as huge as they were
at the beginning

I’ve been trying to understand
what these icons are saying,
why their simple untranslatable tune
touches so deeply

is this the way we are
advancing toward one another

horizon of some Truth,
coming ever nearer
never arriving?

*

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

Andreea Banciu

Ioana Ieronim
 

Fragmente

Vad un drum parasind satul,
traversand campul
Serpentine,
mai departe pe cararile subtiri
Pierzandu-se in codri

Turme de oi
Ce au coborat din munti
Urca incet, in siruri,
Deal dupa deal

Trenul meu aluneca in acelasi ritm

A inceput sa ninga usor
In patria mea natala –
Fulgi la fel de mari
ca la inceput

Am incercat sa inteleg
Ce spun efigiile,
de ce cantul lor simplu, de netradus
atinge atat de adanc

asa ne indreptam
unul catre celalalt

orizont al aceluiasi Adevar
apropiindu-ne tot mai mult
fara a sosi vreodata?

*

Probabil ne-am cunoscut undeva, Domnisoara,
va amintiti unde ar putea fi?

Nu cred – o, ba da
poate am fost acele pietre reci
asezate alaturi pe catifea
in pestera lui Alladin

…sau doi cai, galopand in bataia vantului
pe continentul Gondwana

si totusi cred ca mi-amintesc,
era in Londra, intr-o seara,
sau poate era Bucuresti, Washington, Paris,
Viena, Praga, Barcelona, Istanbul,
Galwaym New York?
era-nnorat, imi amintesc
si inauntru, o multime vesela

Nu, nu, poate inca mai tii minte
Acel cuib de taciuni aprinsi –
Ne pierdusem de convoaiele noastre,
se lasase amurgul
umbrele se intindeau flamande si...

Cred mai curand ca ne trezisem devreme
- era ziua plecarii –
parul ne stralucea
precum panza de paianjen, incarcata de roua,
intr-o vie aurie, in parg

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

Nu, asculta
Acum cred ca stiu intr-adevar
Eram doi serpi miraculosi,
gonind unul dupa celalalt
voiosi, in primul ocean al lumii –
soarele se topea in ape
in miez de zi
Insusi Dumnezeu privea inmarmurit
frumusetea miscarii lor

stai sa iti spun, trebuie sa fi fost cand am citit
“Ma minunez, pe legea mea, de ce am facut,
tu si eu, pana...” iti poti imagina asa o lectura obligatorie?

da, in asa un loc, in asa moment...

in acea zi, daca iti amintesti,
inimile noastre au fost doborate
si apoi, bineinteles, am uitat

Cum ziceam, domnisoara, trebuie sa ne fi cunoscut undeva

Stiti, lucrurile astea…

*

Ingropati intr-un val de cuvinte
pana la genunchi

prinsi in mrejele
replicilor dantelate

precum pietrele Mesopotamiei
ce-si revarsa lumina
in intunericul unui muzeu inchis.

*

Paseste desculta peste Prag
si se intoarce iarasi
netezeste cararea amintirilor mele

Imi spune: „e doar de-a v-ati ascunselea
ne prefacem, asa cum faceam demult,
cand an de an il asteptam pe Mos Craciun
si pe tata sa se intoarca din lagar,
stiti”
„Canalul Dunarii...”
„Da, aminteste-ti, in fiece zi, atatia ani.”

Ma uit la mainile ei mici, care cantau Czerny si Bach
Si erau ferecate si vrajite, de carti fara numar
Si vindecau atatia oameni dragi si straini
Si cresteau copii frumosi

Ea, cea care nu a pierdut niciodata candoarea
din ochii uimitori

“Nici nu e pentru totdeauna”, spune ea
„lasam doar usa pe jumatate deschisa cand plecam.”

Din camera-i intunecata
vedem gradina, ce se topeste in soarele stralucitor –
vara indiana a acestui an.

Struguri negri, copti ii atarna la ferestre,
ea se intreaba daca va reusi cineva
sa protejeze via de inghet – dupa

ce incearca sa explice din nou cum se face asta

apoi imi spune: „hei, calatorule,
te-ai intors mereu, poate
nu ai fost, de fapt,
niciodata plecat

nu uita sa raspandesti in urma ta farame de iubire
acum, cand pleci,
asa ne-am putea gasi calea inapoi
chiar si de departe.”

...

Atunci mi-ai pus palmele pe fata
pentru un moment
apoi mi-ai dat drumul
- tu cel ce stii despre aceste lucruri

Nu-ti feri privirea, ai spus,
in lumina
scazuta

in claritatea
intensa
si vie
a luminii

*

Masurand sirul lung de pergament
cu randuri proaspat scrise,
inca ude

indreptandu-ne unul spre celalalt
de-a lungul randurilor scrise, ce ne arata calea

pana ajungem aici,
sub cornul lunii
iar cuvinte din multe limbi
cad verticale,
grele


si palmele noastre goale poate simt
hotarul unde am fost despartiti
in momentul
in care nu toate lucrurile primisera nume.

Poate intr-o zi vom reusi sa scriem
O parte din aceste nume de lucruri, uitate
sau nestiune vreodata

cuvinte
ce nu au putut fi auzite la inceput
sau care abia au fost pronuntate
de atunci