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.

Violeta Mitu

Katherine Gallagher

Paznic

Vrei ca eu sa fiu paznic la far? Bine.

ma voi instala intr-o casa cu scari in spirala, doar eu, niste carti si o pisica.

Voi invata cum arata marea

intoarsa pe dos, cum tipetele pasarilor

sunt esarfe subtiri, ondulandu-se slobode.

Ma voi putea privi in ochi

in geamul telescopului,

voi intalni taceri de zdrente, ca niste nori fugari.

Nu va sti nimeni cat pretuiesc eu

salutul de lumina al vapoarelor,

si cat de mult tanjesc dupa prezenta lor.

Nu voi da inapoi, pe oameni ii voi invata

sa stea departe,

poate chiar voi ajunge sa iubesc viata pe mare

imi voi lasa ancora, voi uita de oras

si de rigiditatea lui, dupa ce marea involburata

si ale sale valuri canelate ma vor fi cucerit