Saturday, January 15, 2011

In the Same Space


In the Same Space
by C. P. Cavafy

The setting of houses, cafés, the neighborhood
that I’ve seen and walked through years on end:

I created you while I was happy, while I was sad,
with so many incidents, so many details.

And, for me, the whole of you has been transformed into feeling.

Translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard

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This poem touched a nerve and made me reflect on all the years I have lived in this community. When I was younger, I always longed to immerse myself in far-away cultures and places, where people speak other languages and think different thoughts. Part of me still feels that way, but what would I do without all these familiar streets and the memories of people long since gone?

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