"I had hoped to finally let go of this city, knowing all the while that the longing would start again soon enough, that one never washes anything away, and that this marooned and spectral city, which is no longer home for me . . . would eventually find newer, ever more beguiling ways to remind me that here is where my mind always turns, that here, to quote this century's most famous Alexandrian poet, Constantine Cavafy, I'll always end up, even if I never come back:
For you won't find a new country,
won't find a new shore,
the city will always pursue you,
and no ship will ever take you away from yourself."
-- Andre Aciman, speaking of the city from which he was forced into exile in the essay "Alexandria: the Capital of Memory"
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2 comments:
I'm leaving too, baby. The fatcats ruined our New York with their condo towers. I hope they all get mugged!
xo
The way that the city has changed gives me a hollow feeling in my heart. It is truly not our city any more, and I don't know what the young people who come to live here are expecting to find. But still, won't you be sad to leave?
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