JOHN MOLE

Simpleton

They stopped him on his way to the fair
and asked impossible questions.
I don’t know he answered, one by one,
but with a simple grin they might
find fetching. Not a bit of it. Their laughter
thundered overhead, a dark cloud
gathering impatience. Then there rained
such blows on him he knew for sure
he’d never get there. We could tell you
everything, they said, but this is better
and was worth the wait. At that
he lay face down and took it, weeping
earthwards. One by one
the stars came out, and then the moon
was there, by now too late
for anything but shining vacantly
on all of them. The road ahead
returned a distant music and the pulse
of love until whatever started this
was over. Now if he doesn’t know
he heard them say, he’ll never, as they
left him, as he rose and stood there
shrouded in the certainty of pain,
remembering the questions. Then
towards him, innocently decked
with ribbons from the fair, a girl
came dancing and she broke his heart.


 

Sarac cu duhul

Pe drumul spre targ il oprira
sa-l prinda cu intrebari de neinteles.
Nu stiu raspunse el la fiecare,
desi un simplu zambet prefacut l-ar fi facut
sa raspunda. Nici gand insa. Rasul lor
cadea ca un tunet pe capul sau intunecat
ce colecta nerabdare. Apoi incepu sa ploua
cu lovituri, astfel incat fu sigur
ca nu va ajunge acolo in veci. Ti-am putea spune
totul, i-au zis, dar e mai bine asa,
face sa se merite asteptarea. Atunci
isi pleca fata si primi, lacrimile-i
curgand pe pamant. Una cate una
stelele apareau, apoi luna
fu acolo, dar prea tarziu acum
decat sa lumineze in gol pe fiecare dintre ei.
Drumul ce le sta-nainte trimitea ecoul
unei muzici departate si pulsul
dragostei pana cand ceea ce pornise totul
isi gasi sfarsitul. Acum daca nu stie,
ii auzi spunand, niciodata n-o sa stie, dupa ce
plecara, se ridica si ramase acolo
infasurat in certitudinea durerii,
amintindu-si intr-una intrebarile. Apoi,
inocenta sub panglicile de la targ,
o fetiscana veni spre el
dansand si-i franse inima.

Din volumul For the Moment, Peterloo Poets,2000

Translated by Octavia Marinescu