de Philip Schultz
În oraşul meu de lîngă
ocean
lumea trage din
răsputeri
să strîngă frunzele,
să ţină şcoala de
vară,
şi să nu se închidă
librăria.
În fiecare zi
tot mai mulţi bărbaţi
se adună la gară
aşteptînd să li se dea
de lucru.
Teoria spune că
latino-americanii ar
munci
pe bani mai puţini
şi de-asta sunt aleşi
primii,
în timp ce albii şi
negrii
încearcă să-şi evite
privirile
atinse de spaimă.
Santos, meşterul
nostru,
care nu vrea decît
ce-i pot da mîinile,
se mîndreşte cu
jumătatea lui de acru
din Guatemala,
unde are de gînd s-o
ia mai uşor
la bătrîneţe.
E chiar admirabil
că omul vrea să facă
toată treaba asta
cu demnitate, dar pînă
şi el ştie
că acum nimeni nu mai
iese la pensie,
şi că toţi ajung să
muncească mai mult.
Taică-meu a vrut
pentru el
o viaţă ceva mai bună
decît
cea cu care s-a ales.
Nu-i plăcea să se ştie
un tip
fără educaţie, încolţit,
chinuit de amărăciune,
ci pe cale de a se îmbogăţi.
Era convins de dreptul lui de a fi bogat.
Fericirea, mă gîndeam,
nu era decît o iluzie necesară.
Acum cred că totul se rezumă la
acele clipe preţioase de alinare,
la visuri cu Guatemala.
Uneori, în nopţile de iarnă,
înconjurat de liniştea impunătoare
a vilelor pustii –
simple căbănuţe, cîndva,
în care oamenii trăiau cum puteau,
deţinute acum de bănci
şi de bogaţii nepăsători –
obişnuiesc să privesc pe geam,
căutînd bătaia slabă a vreunui televizor,
mereu lovindu-mă, spre surprinderea mea,
de figura caraghioasă, plină de pori
a propriei reflexii
absorbite
de bunăstare.
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Founder and director of the Writers Studio in New York, Schultz grew up in Rochester, New York. He earned a BA from San Francisco State University and an MA from the Iowa Writers Workshop. He is the author of numerous poetry collections, among them Like Wings (1978), winner of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Award in literature; Deep Within the Ravine (1984), awarded the Academy of American Poets Lamont Prize; The Holy Worm of Praise (2002); Living in the Past (2004); the Pulitzer Prize–winning Failure (2007); and The God of Loneliness: Selected and New Poems (2010).
Schultz’s work delves into personal history, family, the city, and immigrant and Jewish experience. In Failure, Schultz wrote of his father, the son of Lithuanian immigrants, who attempted a series of unforgettable and unsuccessful business ventures when Shultz was growing up, ultimately leaving his son and wife in impoverished circumstances at the time of his early death. Schultz has observed in interviews that it took him many years to write about his father with honesty.
******************************************
Founder and director of the Writers Studio in New York, Schultz grew up in Rochester, New York. He earned a BA from San Francisco State University and an MA from the Iowa Writers Workshop. He is the author of numerous poetry collections, among them Like Wings (1978), winner of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Award in literature; Deep Within the Ravine (1984), awarded the Academy of American Poets Lamont Prize; The Holy Worm of Praise (2002); Living in the Past (2004); the Pulitzer Prize–winning Failure (2007); and The God of Loneliness: Selected and New Poems (2010).
Schultz’s work delves into personal history, family, the city, and immigrant and Jewish experience. In Failure, Schultz wrote of his father, the son of Lithuanian immigrants, who attempted a series of unforgettable and unsuccessful business ventures when Shultz was growing up, ultimately leaving his son and wife in impoverished circumstances at the time of his early death. Schultz has observed in interviews that it took him many years to write about his father with honesty.
