A man in a desert can hold absence in his cupped hands, knowing it is something that feeds him more than water.
Michael OndaatjeHer hand touched me at the wrist. "If I gave you my life, you would drop it. Wouldn't you?" I didn't say anything.
Michael OndaatjeI believe this. When we meet those we fall in love with, there is an aspect of our spirit that is historian, a bit of a pedant who reminisces or remembers a meeting when the other has passed by innocentlyโฆbut all parts of the body must be ready for the other, all atoms must jump in one direction for desire to occur.
Michael OndaatjeEvery immigrant family, it seems, has someone who does not belong in the new country they have come to. It feels like permanent exile to that one brother or wife who cannot stand a silent fate in Boston or London or Melbourne. Iโve met many who remain haunted by the persistent ghost of an earlier place.
Michael Ondaatje