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.

Andreea Hadambu

Katherine Gallagher

De paza

Vrei sa fiu pazitoarea farului? Prea bine.

Ma voi instala intr-un turn cu scara in spirala, luand doar carti si o pisica sa-mi tina de urat.

Voi invata cum arata marea

intoarsa pe toate fetele ei, cum tipetele pasarilor

se unduiesc ca niste esarfe subtiri luate de vant.

O sa ma deprind sa-mi vad ochiul oglindit cand scrutez orizontul prin tubul telescopului, sa infrunt fasiile de tacere in chip de nori fugari.

Nimeni nu va sti cat inseamna pentru mine lumina pe care o emit vapoarele,

cat tanjesc dupa sosirea lor.

Nu o sa ma clintesc, ii voi invata pe oameni sa ma ocoleasca,

poate voi ajunge sa iubesc aceasta viata marina;

imi voi ingropa ancora acolo, voi uita orasul

si soliditatea lui in cadenta valurilor

care luneca si se sparg, rasfirandu-si spuma.