"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