Odysseus
it took me so long to get back to who I am
why was I away so long why was the journey so tortuous
all those false masks against a backdrop narrative to do with authenticity
but now arriving back there is still much debris to clear
the clearer to see the point from which I started
that from which I set out confused in sundry identities at war with themselves
now to find calm on that setting-out point as the final destination
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This poem by Tom Leonard is taken from PN Review 179, January - February 2008. Further contributions from Leonard are available in the archive to paying subscribers, as well as more poetry, features, reviews and reports from across the back catalogue.
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