Vehanoush Takian - A YULETIDE KNOCKER

They turned it
to a threshold of lies,
a doorway to an abyss
and the breech of a cannon.

In a baffling world of many millennia,
we barely have two days to go,
one is gone, the other remains –
word is gone, meaning stays,
note is gone, sound remains,
shape is gone, location stays,
object is gone, value remains,
at last, the snow is gone and color stays --
who needs whiteness bright and clear
in a poisoned biosphere?

And to those
whose homes are gone, and life is still here,
neatly packaged messages of peace
are sent, left and right –
it is Yuletide, a time of hope,
it is Christmas, a time so bright,
a threshold of hope
and a doorway to light,
let cannons salute the advent of insight.

One is gone, half remains,
I said it wrong, somewhere above --
in all, it comes to one-and-a-half.

The year is gone,
and in our hearts
melodies linger.on.


VEHANOUSH TEKIAN
Translated by Tatul Sonentz