Gabriel Griffin

Outsiders

You don't always notice them.
The thorn and tangle of years has smudged
their alien forms but under the berries
and briar, the lizards' hot flickering, a slow-worm

curled in their bulk's cool hollow, they urge
their granite stolidity, their right to be

where they've arrived. No return now to arid
slopes, mountain's sterility, wind's hard blowing.

Too ponderous to go further, the force that had
driven them spent, deposited in an alien land,

dull in the shadows of flickering trees, still
each molecule bears a memory
of feldspar, mica, quartz
and glitters when touched by the sun.

Stefania-Ileana Tarcomnicu

Gabriel Griffin

Intrusii

Nu ii observi intotdeauna.
Spinii si hatisul anilor le-au

sters contururile stranii ale chipurilor dar sub tufe de fructe de padure
si macese, stralucirea intensa a soparlelor, un vierme

incolacit in trupurile lor reci, isi grabesc
solzii de granit, dreptul lor

de a fi unde au ajuns. Nu mai e loc de intoarcere
la pantele aride, pustietatea muntilor, suflarea napraznica a vantului.

Prea impovarati ca sa inainteze, forta care i-a
calauzit s-a epuizat, depusa intr-un taram strain,

sumbra in umbrele copacilor frematand in lumina, totusi
fiecare molecula poarta o amintire

de feldspart, mica, cuart
ce straluceste sub atingerea blanda a soarelui.