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Song of the Green Flash
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If there is a green in Paradise, it cannot be but of this shade,
which most surely is the true green of Hope.
—Jules Verne, from Le Rayon-Vert
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The watchers share an unobstructed view
of the horizon from the rock-strewn cliff
above the silver-plated sea. And if
the sky retains its limpid, cloudless blue,
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they may observe a singular event
visible above the setting sun—
a flash of neon green— as one by one
the stars appear to grace the firmament.
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Now, as the final rays pass deep and long
and bend and twist throughout the atmosphere,
such beauty gives the sunset watchers pause.
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And as for me, although a poem or a song
will come of it, tonight I’m awestruck here,
joining in their natural applause.
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(Punta Ballena, Uruguay, December 2021)
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Catherine Chandler, poet, translator, editor and musician, is the author of six poetry collections, including Lines of Flight, shortlisted for the Poets’ Prize, and The Frangible Hour, winner of the Richard Wilbur Award. Raised in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Chandler’s most recent book, Annals of the Dear Unknown, is an historical verse-tale situated in Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, at the time of the Revolutionary War.
Chandler’s work has been widely published in journals and anthologies in North America, Europe, and Australia. http://www.cathychandler.blogspot.com
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North of Oxford 