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.

Florentina Yvonne Penciu

Katherine Gallagher

Paznic

Vrei ca eu sa fiu un paznic al luminii casei? In ordine.
Ma voi cocota intr-o casa in spirala
numai cu carti si pisica sa-mi tina companie.

Voi invata cum arata marea
intoarsa pe dos, cum plansetele pasarii
sunt subtiri esarfe spiralate ce evadeaza.

Voi reusi sa ma privesc in ochi
cand ma opintesc sa vad in jos prin telescop,
intalnesc soiuri de liniste tachinate ca norii fugari.

Nimeni nu va sti cat apreciez
felul in care luminile corabiilor se propaga,
cat de tare astept vizita lor.

Voi face ce ma pricep, voi invata oamenii
sa pastreze distanta intre ei,
poate chiar voi ajunge sa indragesc viata aceasta pe mare

voi cobori ancora, voi uita orasul,
soliditatea lui, dupa cala
cu cercevea si palma marii.