'There was much that was terrible, yes, and yet, in an odd way, it was a unique experience. I have never lived as intensely as I did during the war.'

'Intensely?'

'Perceptions were heightened, experiences were more vivid. I can't explain it. I felt I was really alive. I wrote poems mostly, that were compact and intense reactions to what was happening.... There was heightened meaning to our everyday lives. I fact, I haven't felt that way since the war ended.'

... The delicate jasmine blossoms shivered in the breeze, wrapping us in their fragrant perfume. The white flowers fell gently in our laps as we sat silently in the fragrant garden, an anachronism in this city of unruly concrete.