Harutiun Berberian - MARIONETTE

There was a time
when I could stand on my own.

Now I must be pulled
by my shoulders by thin threads
to move my feet head hands
to be set loose
so that my clothes may flap with the winds
and people may think
that I am still here
and the birds may assume
that I am still alive
and the wheat fields
remain secure.

There was a time
when I knew how not to be still.
Now I am merely here
I do not track
the sun and the rolling
moves of my shadow
to count the beads of time.
The sun fades my clothes
the cold wind
deforms my mien
and I ponder
in silence.

Perhaps I should
tear up the mask
of my face
so that the birds may not flee
from me
and people may breathe easy
with a smile and not worry
about the wheat
(to rise at an even height…)

There was a time
when I could be me.
Now I wish
to forget myself
in the crowd.

Perhaps it is time to depart.


Harutiun Berberian
Translated by Tatul Sonentz

Harutiun Berberian - THE WIND

As the wind teased
the girl’s hair I thought
a black bird had perched
on her head
swaying.

As the wind subsided
her face cleared like the sky
but the signs of the storm
lingered on.

And it was just as hard
dispersing them --
as hard as the storm’s
traces on the
seashore.


Harutiun Berberian

Harutiun Berberian - COMMUNION

My wife whose long stressed face
was rescued from El Greco’s canvases
and whose body is a bursting sail
strolls on the ocean.
Her eyes are waves of sadness.
She rests her fingers on your brows.

When she departs
you miss her scorched footprints
you are awake
and all seems unbearable.

My wife conceals
El Greco’s sketches of faces…


Harutiun Berberian
Translated by Tatul Sonentz

Harutiun Berberian - IN THE CURRENT

Here once more
with the crowd
we wait at the station.
Around us white
funereal faces –
even makeup cannot
cover them.
While the fish reek
in the rooms.

Do you recall Fellini’s Roma…?
In the entrails of the old city
where the oil paintings
on the walls of the ancient hall
were instantly erased
by the invading current
of the subway in construction.
And no one could do anything…

While you --
who were always around here
somewhere
when I found you --
had already faded in the current
rushing in…
like a painting reminiscent
of Fellini’s antics.


Harutiun Berberian
Translated by Tatul Sonentz

Harutiun Berberian - SEPTEMBER SONG

You were drenched under the rain.

The recognized boundaries
of your clothes and flesh
wiped out
you were defenseless
against the aggression
of budding sensitivities
of time and missed
opportunities.

While further down
the path
in the pine forest
got lost
snaring you in the lyric
net of the rain.

Now you could see nothing
but grasped everything
instinctively.
There was no talk there
the words were birds
perched-lost
on the pines


Harutiun Berberian
Translated by Tatul Sonentz

Harutiun Berberian - MOONLIGHT

We keep the windows open at night
to restore the tired naked bodies
and beneath the bare light of the moon
our sweat cools
while my eyes watch
that which remains of your body
from the ravages of time.

Stretched beside me
under the effect of pills
you snooze undisturbed
while I cannot
for so many years now
shut my eyelids
unable to endure
the disfigurement
of mind and body.

I snip your face and rearrange it.
I snip the worn out image of the city
rushing in through the window…

And in the light
of plaster and plastic
all turn into inanimate things…

It is a nervous collapse
yet none of us
can scream its name.


------------ Harutiun Berberian
Translated by Tatul Sonentz