Practice the five strengths, the condensed heart instructions

Buried inside a mountain near Longyearbyen
on Spitsbergen Island,
about 1,300 kilometres from the North Pole—

the three cold chambers are today home
to some 1.3 million varieties
that their owners can withdraw at any moment.

More than 30,000 samples deposited
from a record 23 organisations
in 21 countries.

Among those deposited carried in
were 21 Palestinian species:
vegetables, millet, herbs.

A new delivery is expected from Sudan,
a country also ravaged by war and famine.

Even if the refrigeration system were to fail,
the vault would maintain its cold temperature
thanks to held by the permafrost around it.

The seeds do not know they have been saved.