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" and because what we learn in the dark
remains all our lives,
a noise like the sea, displacing the day's
pale knowledge,

you'll come to yourself
in a glimmer of rainfall or frost,
the burnt smell of autumn,
a meeting of parallel lines,

and know you were someone else
for the longest time,
pretending you knew where you were, like a diffident tourist,
lost on the one main square, and afraid to enquire. "

John Burnside , Selected Poems


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John Burnside quote : and because what we learn in the dark<br />remains all our lives,<br />a noise like the sea, displacing the day's<br />pale knowledge,<br /><br />you'll come to yourself<br />in a glimmer of rainfall or frost,<br />the burnt smell of autumn,<br />a meeting of parallel lines,<br /><br />and know you were someone else<br />for the longest time,<br />pretending you knew where you were, like a diffident tourist,<br />lost on the one main square, and afraid to enquire.