YURI KUBLANOVSKY'S JOURNEY

Rostov, Paris
by fever of your universe
a distance of a mile
for a marathon poet
of unexpected class
in your Orphic verse
here in the raw blizzard
taking a glass
of bourbon or kvas
in a damaged century
of exile and deportation
language thrashes us
to outline one's chances
you smile at every storm
with your new sweater on
just to be warm
to take cover from the snow
among a lover's glances
forgetting id and ego.