POEMS BY RADU GYR

OFFERING

by Radu GYR

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From our struggles and defeats

we set up stairways to new destinies

a ladder out of coral through disaster

steps to be climbed by those who come after.

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From each wound that hurts

from every deeper sorrow

We put armor onto new chests

and spades into hands that are not yet

but will be, tomorrow.

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And if we’ve cried, from the massive tears

a soft touch of silk rises

which tomorrow, others will leave

on other foreheads that spring from ours.

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And then, in the sleet and shaggy night

we close our fights, tears and wounds.

From our underground offering

we’ll make bread for people’s hunger.

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BATTLE SONG

by Radu GYR

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It doesn’t hurt, neither the lost battles

nor the chest wounds, they don’t hurt

Not like these ugly arms

that no longer want to fight.

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When your heart is still singing

What matters an arm broken in battle?

Why do you care in vain for a broken sword

when you climb higher with each flag?

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You lose not when you bleed

nor when your eyes are covered in tears.

The worst kind of defeat

is surrendering your dreams.

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ANTITHESIS

by Radu GYR

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You wouldn’t caress if you didn’t know what a curse was

Only those who have sobbed can smile

If you didn’t laugh, you wouldn’t know how to sigh

If you didn’t cry, you wouldn’t carry light in your eyes.

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And if you didn’t nurse your own wound

with your own hand, you wouldn’t care about others’ wounds

You wouldn’t envy a piece of Heaven,

If you didn’t carry a shard of hell within you.

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You can’t rise up in glory until you fall

With heavy head in bitter dust

And if you resurrect in today’s smiles

It’s only because you’ve died in last night’s sorrow.

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ARISE GEORGE, ARISE JOHN
by Radu Gyr
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Not for a piece of rubicund bread
nor for acres, or beds
but for your free sky of tomorrow
Arise George, arise John!
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For the blood your ancestors spilled in ditches
for your songs, stocked in nails,
for the tears that flow from your chained dreams,
Arise George, arise John!
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Nor for the anger that grinds through your teeth
but so that you can collect, while shouting on slopes,
a stack of horizons and a hat full of stars
Arise George, arise John!
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So you can drink your freedom from a bucket
and sink into it like a whirling sky
with apricot blossoms to shake over you
Arise George, arise John!
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To kiss with your hot lips
the threshold, the porch, the doors, the icons
and everything else that freely stands before you
Arise George, arise John!
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Arise George, on chains and ropes!
Arise John on your bones!
Stand up, towards the last light of the storm
Arise George, arise John!