Never Been Abroad

Continent: Asia

The continent I live at the edge of and still have not crossed into. From the water at Istanbul to the stacked lights of Hong Kong, these are the Asian cities I know from other people’s photographs rather than my own feet.

  • Charcoal sketch of the walled old city of Jerusalem at evening, honey-coloured stone, a golden dome, domes and a minaret and a bell-tower on one skyline - never been abroad

    Jerusalem

    A single walled hill that three faiths trace to the same root and have fought over for millennia. I come from outside all three, and I would like, once, to stand on it.

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  • Charcoal sketch of Hong Kong's towers crowded down to the harbour, the hills behind, a ferry on the water - never been abroad

    Hong Kong

    Hong Kong I dream of vertically — a city of millions folded onto a few scraps of land, assembled mostly out of things that are quietly leaving.

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