Katherine Gallagher

Keeper

You want me to be a lighthouse-keeper? Fine.
I'll set myself up in a spiralled house

with only books and the cat for company.

I'll learn how the sea looks

turned inside out, how bird cries

are thin winding scarves escaping.

I'll handle looking myself in the eye

when I peer down the telescope,

meet silences ragged as runaway clouds.

No one will know how I value

the way the ships' lights radiate,

how I long for their visits.

I'll stay my ground, teach people

to keep their distance,

maybe get to love this sea-life

drop my anchor, forget the city,

its solidity, after the ribbed

slip and slap of sea.

Teodora Georgescu

Katherine Gallagher

Paznic

Vrei sa fiu paznica farului? Prea bine.

o sa ma instalez intr-un turn

unde imi vor tine companie doar cartile si pisica.

O sa invat mare pe derost,

cum poarta vantul tipetele pasarilor

ca pe esarfe.

O sa reusesc sa ma privesc in ochi,

cand o sa ma uit prin telescop,

si voi infrunta crampeile de tacere.

Nimeni nu va sti cat de mult pretuiesc

felul in care radiaza becurile navelor

si cat de mult le astept vizitele.

Raman la fel, o sa invat oamenii

sa pastreze distanta,

poate chiar o sa ajunga sa-mi placa viata asta

Aici o sa ancorez,

o sa uit de orasul zgomotos,

dupa coasta dantelata a valurilor.