Northern Exposure, by Atar Hadari

That season in New York I watched two lovers
nightly on TV, like friends-
their mating rituals, their dance of swallows
the exchange of gifts to make amends
for things unsaid; and all that time I was appearing
over the dark, dim lit streets, a star
polar and pink hued, perhaps now guttered
distances and years from where the nearest listener was
but not too isolated to enjoy the hours when they sparred.

Atar Hadari, born in Israel and raised in England, is a poet and translator whose Rembrandt’s Bible, a collection of biblical monologues, was recently published in the UK by Indigo Dreams.