A Childlike Glimpse of Winter - Gabriela Lupu (best book club books .txt) 📗

Dedicated to my family and friends, wherever they are...

Definitions

 - What is it?
How is it possible
you do not yet know?
Well, do not worry
for such a trifle!
I will tell you
what it means.
Am I not, really,
your best friend?

It is, actually, a... shell.

- Seriously?

- Yeeeah,
a big one
as the right hand fist
of a child.

It is carved with mastery
by a famous master,
in white pearl colour,
in a far faaaar away country.

The ocean waves
bring it ashore
only once
- at the end and beginning
of the year -
in a night clear as glass,
but only after all the trees
have fallen asleep,
so tired of crying.

(You see, at that time
trees are punished;
they must wear
tattered clothes and pyjamas
for all the mistakes made
during the year - therefore they are
so miserable.)

So even when
the shell reaches the shore,
suddenly ignites
into outer darkness,
to all the houses
in villages and towns,
everywhere,
lots of colored lights!

- Wow!

- But it gets so cold,
that the very stars
begin to tremble
and, not to freeze,
they are spinning on the spot
to the left, then to the right,
that the whole sky is full
of thousands of sparks
- the adults call them:

snowflakes.

It is becoming,
increasingly colder

- Brrrr!

- that people
can heat themselves up
only if
they closely approach
each other
and shake their hands
- only then
it is really good for them.

But I have to tell you something
more important:

If you happen
to find yourself around
when it arrives
you have to bend,
to take it lightly in your hands
- with great attention
because it slips! -
to caress it until
not one grain of sand remains
and hide it under
many layers of garments,
to not be cold anymore,
right at the heart.

They say that
if you do so,
from that moment your heart
will start to beat so warm
that you will become
able to give a lot of gifts,
and will make many happy!

Then,
when you put to the ear
that shell,
you hear the ocean waves
sing carols and bells ring.

That is,
in fact,
what adults call...

Winter.




For Some Day...

Some day,
when I grow
big and important,
just like you,
I will make
a toothless snowman
laughing from ear to ear,
even in the yard
of an elderly person’s home.

I will bring him
a big red clown nose,
a hat with a brim,
funny, tilted on one side
and a pair of large glasses.

I will not give him
just one arm outstretched
but two – always open
for a hug.

And I will sit him
by the window
for all grandparents out there,
who have forgotten
to tell stories
and are bored to death
in the days of long winter,
when no one
visits any longer.
They will watch him
when they wake
from the very early morning,
and all day long!

Then perhaps
they would smile again,
as in the good old days,
even a little...

Wouldn’t it be a good idea,
daddy?

A Delivery Successfully Completed

Last night
was spinning around on top,
a stork.

She carried,
hanging in beak,
and beautifully tied
with a blue bow,
a noisy basket.

But because
of abundant snowfall
and lack of vision,
no address was found
and so her work was
largely stalled.

So tired of looking,
she stopped
on a telegraph pole


to rest a bit
and decide where to go.

She stretched out her neck
in all directions,
but failed
to make a decision,
and was increasingly disorientated.

I think she was saying in her mind:
„Is there any point
in looking longer
or should I let it
go back to the sender?”

And as she stood so,
in total confusion,
suddenly,
from a chimney,
began to rise into the sky
such a burning desire,
basket shaped,
that its light went
clear across
the whole horizon!

And our stork,
as she saw it,
stood no longer thinking,

Vruum,
immediately
spread her wings,
flew in there
and quietly,
careful not to upset him,
delivered the package
exactly
to its destination.

Remained for a moment
on one leg,
and, in a corner knew
only by her,
hidden underneath
the left wing feathers,
she marked with her beak
an X,
as in X and 0 game.

Then, gulping satisfied,
she took flight again,
fluttering slowly
to
the post office
of origin.

Proposal

I like you:
you are very nice,
always cheerful,
and seem
a good boy,
not as our neighbour’s boy
across the street,
who told me that
if I get close to their gate,
he will beat me with a stick!

You know, I am new here
and hardly anyone
notices me.

It’s true,
you seem
a bit...
older than me,
but it does not
bother me at all.
I hope, neither you!

I have a lot of games and toys
that I could bring here
and share,


and we would spend
a great time together!

I promise that
I would slip to see you
each evening,
to tell you one of those
nice stories
learned from my mother.
And when I leave
I would give you
a good-night hug.

How about it -
would you like to be
my friend,
man of snow?
Please!!!!

Treaty On A High

I was made aware
that Your Highness, Winter,
when you receive
an important complaint
from the International Court
in charge of
all children on earth,
you get upset very much
and punish children
who are extremely naughty.

Specifically,
they are isolated by you
in their rooms
as they cannot go outdoors
to play with other children.

Your invisible soldiers
attack them with some
very dangerous weapons,
which give them
runny noses,
coughing
and a fever.

Honorable Madam,
I promise you solemnly that,
if you withdraw
your whole army
from my territory
in two days,
without other complications -
with injections
and visits to doctors -

While you will hold
the Presidency
of the Seasons’ Commission,
I will be obedient
to my parents,
I will do homework
every day,
I will not tease or torment
a neighbour,
I will not ruin any toy,
and I will not pull the tail
of any cat.

In addition,
I assure you
I will give audience
to the PC gaming
only one hour a day,
(no, no, well)
only 30 minutes,
and only one hour of cartoons
on television.

In these conditions
so favorable
for both parties,
I respectfully ask
if you would kindly sign
the peace treaty
between our two countries.

Yours sincerely,
Prince X,
President of my room.

Replacing One With Another

  Mommy,
do not let it ring,
the alarm clock,
every morning
to go to school.

Better
you wake me,
with a bell,
taken from
grandather’s sleigh
pulled by horses.

So,
I will imagine,
every morning,
awakening,
that it is the winter vacation
and, moreover,
I will always remember
that I must be obedient
if I want a Christmas gift!

Choosing A Gift

One winter day
a polar bear
descended
from a book of stories
off my shelf
and slowly walked
along the streets
to seek for himself
a Christmas gift.

Those who met him
thought he was a man
dressed for an ad,
so that
no one took notice.

It seems, however,
he was
a bit too selective,
for no way could he find
something he liked
in the stores
and, finally,
did not buy anything.


However,
the next day
was there great dismay
at the Zoo
as they discovered
the female polar bear cage
open
but she...
nowhere to be found...

They annouced her missing
and messed up, crazy,
all over town,
but no way could they find
where she was.

But I am
the only one to know!
Because now,
instead of one -
two polar bears


are in my book of stories
and live happily ever after!

That is, indeed,
a Christmas gift!

Comparison

  A true Christmas gift
given by a child
to another child,
would be,
for example,
when a boy
would give
his brand new
plush pony,
which he loves the most
to another boy,
who has no toy
and is so poor
he could never,
whilst still a child
even straddle a real horse.

That, applied to adults,
would mean,
for example,
an adult
giving
a shiny new car
to another adult,
that is so poor
he cannot afford
to buy his own.

But this is
so unlikely to happen,
that it is almost
an impossibility.

In conclusion,
the children’s world
is still the one
that is closer
to reality!

The CV Of The White Wolf

For three days
I was wandering
through the forest
and could not find
anything to eat.
Crisis this winter is large
- bitter as never before -
when my ancestor
was a puppy.

So I decided
to convert myself
into a domestic dog,
and to apply
for a high position
with the people
from civilization.

Descended from
a family of note,
I am mannered and educated
in one of the most
renowned faculties,
in accordance with
the high law of the strongest.
I graduated
Magna Cum Laude!

I have a white fur
very presentable,
I lick it each day
with care and attention
in order to follow
the latest fashion.

Particularly now, in winter,
it is perfectly adapted
to prevailing
environmental tone,
and in the rest of the year
it also gives me
such a note
of distinction
and kindness (for the naive)
as can not be
more convenient.

My