He is standing arms outstretched
waiting for a bearhug. Grinning.

Why do I give my emotion an animal's name,
give it that dark squeeze of death?
This is the hug which collects
all his small bones and his warm neck against me.
The thin tough body under the pyjamas
locks to me like a magnet of blood.

How long was he standing there
like that, before I came?

~ Michael Ondaatje

Michael Ondaatje is a Sri Lankan-born poet and writer who is perhaps most famous for having written The English Patient, which was adapted into the Academy Award-winning film starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche.   It was this piece of fictional romance about World War II that won him the prestigious Booker Prize in 1992.  Having emigrated to Canada when he was 19, Ondaatje was both the first Canadian to receive this honour, as well as the first winner born in Sri Lanka.

At the age of 27, Ondaatje had already won the Canadian Governor General’s Award for his collection of poems that were inspired by the outlaw, Billy the Kid.  His second Governor General’s Award came nine years later for his collection, There's a Trick with a Knife I'm Learning to do.

He is also well known for his novels, including In the Skin of a Lion, which was written about the experience of 1930’s Canadian immigrants, as well as his analysis on the work of famous Canadian songwriter and poet, Leonard Cohen.