Shushan Artinian Poems

Talk to me in English, please,
For I understand it well and speak it with ease.

Still, many expect little of me, being a Lebanese Armenian,
...

I thought myself independent,
Free, like a bird that soars.
Alas, I am dependent, like a caged bird
That is fed each day.
...

There is no one I can fully trust,
Share my secrets with, confess my sins to,
Except God.
There is no one I can talk to,
...

Fearful of being rejected, mocked or scorned,
Upon declaring her love to a man she adores,
She lives in secrecy.
Tortured when ignored by the love of her life,
...

A frozen glance,
A stiff body, hence
A corpse lies on the ground
That has, two days posthumous, been found.
...

Darkness falls, moonlight shines,
Everybody's asleep except I.
Excited by a hectic yet productive day,
I cannot sleep not even after I pray.
...

'Join each other and group yourselves,
But for Heaven's sake do not name yourselves;
Do anything and everything: cultural political and social,
But be sure to remain strictly unofficial'.
...

Imagine a deaf conductor or a mute singer;
Imagine a blind painter or a paralyzed swimmer.
Imagine yourself a great pilot;
Alas, you cannot be; you have myopia.
...

I held her hand and gave her a smile;
Alas, she's far off, many a mile.
She thinks I'm a friendly neighbor,
When in fact I'm her loyal grand-daughter.
...

Her image flashes before my eyes,
As I watch out the window, seated in our car.
Her face so innocent, covered with a beautiful smile.
No one could guess that she was a survivor of three wars and a genocide.
...