this song, garini şorer,
this sweetly sad lilting
unforced migration to
to take our homes
we were forced to migrate
the appropriation
of land and, now, song
this swaying dance
this dance of erzerum
hypnotic melody and
the mesmer of
enchanting women
in zephyred sway
dancing daredar...
all this, this song,
reminds me of you
from before we even met
before we were even born
before you distracted
me completely
with your own
graceful sway
november 2026
best read while listening to Էրզրումի Շորոր
a sweetly sad lament
resonating woody and full
a wee bit of rosiny grit
in each bowfull bari-tone
each sound, each note and phrase
in harmonized counterpoint
passionately reflected on
your beautiful armenian face
expressing the collective genetic
drone in our highland souls
echoing off mountains and dzors
in maqamed melodies that
perfectly defines us...
i was gonna write
a smallish slew of haikus
can a slew be two?
a haiku by brush
not this erasable pen
i kanji fathom
basking in the
warmth and glow
of the simple thought
of your soul and spirit
the only you i know
the construct of you
my construct
scaffolded in my
head and heart
may be just the
you i wish you were
or... the only you
you let me see
thus far...
in the shadows
the sun never cast
shadows we rarely
sense or see
we see many
exclaiming
holier than thou
in pious purity
yet living lurky
in the clarity
that's a misty
gray relativity
of a betwixt
that's neither this
nor purely that
and us?
we are moving
in opposite
directions...
on a line or
on a circle?
listening to only
your armenian
offerings
shivali over
and again
your govand
and daldala
our kiughagan bars
these natural airs
our highland ayres
and noble peasantry
centered, grounded,
and rooted in
an idyllic past
that only music
keeps best alive
and now...
your essence
your best
a soft and
soaring lament
a taksim
timeless in
timelessness
carrying us
to our lost lands
on your reedy breaths
almost covering
the holes
in our hearts
our livers and
our collective
souls
this day
a glorious day
the end of summer
the beginning of fall
a wonderful day
that that that feels
like a beginning
of something,,,
maybe an hour
a wee stay-cation
basking in the sun
music going
my own backyard
poetic thoughts
meandering about
the usual crevices
good places all
this glorious day
