Michael Ondaatje - What We Lost

The interior love poem
the deeper levels of the self

 

dates when the abandonment
of certain principles occurred

 

The role of courtesy—how to enter
a forest, how to touch
a master’s feet before lesson or performance

 

The art of the drum. The art of eye-painting.
How to cut an arrow. Gestures between lovers.
The pattern of teeth marks on skin
drawn by a monk from memory

 

The limits of betrayal. The five ways
a lover could mock an ex-lover

 

The skill in tentative messages
which included yes and no
bu...