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.
.
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.
.
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.
.
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?
.
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!
.
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!
.
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!
.
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!
.
Arise George, on chains and ropes!
Arise John on your bones!
Stand up, towards the last light of the storm
Arise George, arise John!
