Cartography
“We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have
swallowed, bodies we have plunged into and swum up as if rivers of
wisdom, characters we have climbed into as if trees, fears we have
hidden in as if caves.
I wish for all this to be marked on by body when I am dead. I believe
in such cartography – to be marked by nature, not just to label
ourselves on a map like the names of rich men and women on buildings.
We are communal histories, communal books. We are not owned or
monogamous in our taste or experience.”
— Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient