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This poem is taken from PN Review 272, Volume 49 Number 6, July - August 2023.

Snow Leopard and Dark-Iris Lakes Stav Poleg
Because I’m not sure how long the main character
is planning to stay – in fact, he’s just walked out
to watch the fireworks flowering turquoise and green
as the snow gets heavier and bright – let’s just say that for a long-distance
runner and an occasional sprinter, he’s one of those erratic treasures
with eyes so intensely cerulean and wild –
one could safely embark on a starship adventure to a far off
planet, knowing those deep, shiny irises will be visible
from space. Two astonishing lakes –
the kind that would turn you into a believer
in distance and play. Soon you will take a crash course
in wild swimming and deep-water
diving, soon you will learn to construct a spaceship
equipped with an advanced telescope lens to help you cope
with the mounting contradiction of velocity and longing
once leaving becomes the inevitable conclusion
...


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