No place called home

Abstract

At the end of a holiday, no matter how much you dread leaving, some small part of you just can’t wait to get home. And the closer you get to home, the greater that desire grows. But what if ‘home’ is no longer home? For many of us, home is the place where we grew up or where our family lives. It is the place where we lay our heads at night and where food tastes the best. But if these links that bind us to a place fall apart, ‘home’ loses its touch. Then, the feelings of belonging and familiarity start to seem out of place. In the poetry collection Here Was, published in 2023, Prof. Emeritus John P. Portelli (University of Toronto) attempts to capture this sentiment and the essence of home through its absence. [excerpt]