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This poem is taken from PN Review 179, Volume 34 Number 3, January - February 2008.

Odysseus Tom Leonard

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



This poem is taken from PN Review 179, Volume 34 Number 3, January - February 2008.



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