Mapping Memories

Imagine it is a paper.

Look at it.

It is a portrait of the earth.

See where the needle of your magnetic heart stops.

That’s it. That’s the place you always missed.

 

Put a dot.

Touch it with your finger tip. Softly.

It throbs.

Then put another, and then another till a line is formed –

The umbilical cord reconnecting.

 

The spot is the cartograph of your memories.

It is the wound healed.

 

A dot shines on the page

at the zero degree of all directions.

Here ends your returning.

You are home.

 

 

From 'The Long White Thread of Words: Poems for John Berger' (Smokestack Books, 2017). Recording used by kind permission of the BBC.

The free tracks you can enjoy in the Poetry Archive are a selection of a poet’s work. Our catalogue store includes many more recordings which you can download to your device.

Featured in

Poetry of South Asia

This living and evolving digital and audio-visual collection explores the breadth, influence and poetic lineage of South Asia.

Close