My dad

March 12, 2011

Dear friends,
My dad, inspired poet, exceptional engineer, wonderful husband and father, respected and appreciated man by all who knew him, left this world yesterday, one month shy of 80 yo. He has been our rock.
I'll miss so many things about him, but above all I'll miss

His love, strength and "can do" attitude: nothing was too hard for him when we needed it, nothing was too big or too small to ask him to invent or fix

His "true North": he has been my mentor in always choosing the high road, not the easiest one (see at the end his own poem "Incorruptible")

His wisdom and his wit: even just by teaching me to "never get upset twice" (for the same thing: wait and see if indeed some upsetting thing I anticipate would actually happen), he brought so much more Zen to my life. Dad, now I have a big reason to be upset!

His beautiful smile: needed to be seen


Dad, you had so many more poems in you!
I know you will always be with me.

*From Dad's poetry blog*
(Sorry Dad, my translation does not do justice to your wonderful verses, I'll try again when my mind is clearer)


Here or there?/ Acolo or aici?

When cold will descend upon us
Following the laws of time
You, my love, and I will wander
Through the universe.
Without our earthly clothes
will bathe like two children
in the sea of time
at absolute zero...
So many times we will be happily
stretching on a basalt rock somewhere
basking under the rays
of thousands suns.
Or, as newlyweds, we will pass through
the shadow of the leafy woods of our memories
of all we had loved on this earth.
And within the thousands years
we will somehow succeed
in coming back now and then
on this grain of sand...
Gods in the universe, dwarfs on Earth...
but it's getting late
And I never know for sure:
Are we here or are we there?

Când toate-n jur se vor răci
urmând al timpului demers,
noi, draga mea vom rătăci
pe undeva prin univers....
Şi fără straiele de lut
în marea timpului, să ştii,
ne vom scălda ca doi copii,
la minus zero absolut....
Ba fericiţi de-atâtea ori,
întinşi pe-o stâncă de bazalt,
ne vom bronza, ne va fi cald
sub raza miilor de sori.
Ori vom străbate, proaspeţi miri,
la umbra frunzelor de fag
pădurile din amintiri,
tot ce pe lume ne-a fost drag.
Iar miile de ani trecând
vom reuşi noi în vre-un chip
să revenim din când în când
pe-acest grăunte de nisip......
În cosmos zei, aici pitici...
Dar s-a făcut din nou târziu
Şi niciodată nu prea ştiu:
Suntem acolo ori aici?!...


Yesterday, today, tomorrow/Ieri, azi, mâine


Was it a dream or maybe even not
A fluttering of wings, an illusion
Our life and our whole meaning
A short cry in the eternal solitude..."

A fost un vis ori poate nici n-a fost
Un fluturat de aripi, o părere
Viaţa noastră şi întregul rost
Un strigăt scurt in veşnică tăcere...



Incorruptible/Incoruptibil

I stand straight and proud in my wooden home
Having lived all my life in dignity
I am not bowing in front of anyone
And I will always tell the truth
And looked straight into anybody's eyes,
I had always earned whatever I got.
I am not haunted by hate or envy,
I never walked in through the backdoor
I do not give or take what's not rightfully mine
And wherever justice is, I'm there too.
There are many who had hit me
But I forgave them long ago and I invite them
In my house to talk it through:
Why tear each other apart,
Why die fighting worthless battles?
I want to tell them I do not regret any
A single thing is worth our efforts:
To carry our pride as a human beings as I carry mine
It is not easy
But some succeed, myself for instance.
And so, I love you all and I am waiting for you
To take the road that's thorny but it's straight
It is too bad I cannot see you from where I'm now,
Below these two meters of dirt.

Stau drept si mândru-n casa mea de lemn
căci toata viaţa mi-am trăit-o demn
şi nu mă-nchin in faţa nimănui
iar adevărul tot îl spun oricui, wh
pe orişicine-n faţă l-am privit
şi tot ce am pe merit am primit.
De ură şi invidii nu sunt ros
nu mă strecor pe uşile dindos
nu dau şi nu accept ce nu-i al meu
şi unde e dreptatea sunt şi eu.
Au fost destui cei care m-au lovit
dar i-am iertat de mult si îi invit
în casa mea, să stăm, să lămurim
de ce ne sfâşiem, de ce murim
în lupte pentru pricini fără rost.
Şi să le spun că nu regret ce-a fost
un singur lucru merită efort
să-ţi porţi mândria-de om precum mi-o port
binenţeles este destul de greu
dar unii reuşesc, de pildă eu...

Aşa ca vă iubesc şi vă aştept
pe drumul cel firesc, spinos dar drept.
Păcat că nu vă văd de unde sunt
prin stratul de doi metri de pământ!...