overwhelmed by
that unbearable
lightness of being
not trying to
rip off kundera
but he said it so
amazingly well
but the concept
oh yes, the concept
so very real
these days
probably real
all the days
of mankind
buoyed and
anchored
simultaneously
by the precious
pursuit of, you know,
trying to fathom
life and love and
death and disease
kindness and inhumanity
none of which
ever
go
away
none of which
will we
ever
understand
april 14, 2026
speechless
empty
gut punched
broken heart
crushed spirit
a village rubbled
a father digging
weeping and digging
in his ruined home
for his children
he already knows
are dead
april 9, 2026
i
in love with the idea
of loving you
adoring the notion
of adoring you
yearning just to
yearn for you
even dreamt about
dreaming about you
while missing the longing
of missing you
ii
thinking these thoughts
while conjuring and
scratching out these lines
from afar
from afar
some distant corner
of my fallow mind
from afar
but rooted in some
genetically coded
sameness
from afar
probably
too far
Israel Passes Law to Hang Palestinians Convicted of Deadly Attacks
Experts
say the law was written in such a way as to ensure that it was
unlikely
to ever apply to Jewish extremists who commit similar crimes.
~ New York Times, March 30, 2026
the powerless
have the power
the subjugated
now subjugating
the once pacific
armed to the teeth
those disenfranchised
now disenfranchising
once viewed as vile
less than human
viewing others
just as vile and heathen
casting them as animals
those that were gassed
about to hang 'em high
a village for a tooth
cities for an eye
a hospital for a house
the powerless
with the power
have become
what they
hated
finding my voice
using it well to mine
a wave of poems
loded in the bedrock
below the basement
of my soul
the voice
getting hoarse
i feel it waning
the vein is baning out
the well, just sludge
the river, wadifying
the metaphors
coming up lame
bereft and wandering
in a world gone mad
lonely in a loving fold
joy coming only
from the stars
in the desert
night sky of
my mind's eye
one two three, four five
expressing, something
curcina, for you
meg yergu yer-ek çors
the way my, heart works
oddly beats, when you
just enter, a room
dum tek tek, dum tek
bir iki, üç dört
wanting to, jump up
and surç bar, with you
wanting to, watch your
naz nousing, sweet dance
hoppa pa, hopa
march 17, 2026
for this one, you might need
hagop martayan dilâçer's alphabet
kaleidoscopic
continuous blossoming
fold upon fold
upon unfoldings
cacophonous harmonies
of a mobius rainbow
understandably
just out of reach
head bobbing from
gyumri to our souls
is anyone going
anywhere near her
where she lives now
in scarborough, yeah,
with the parsley
the fair and all
should i send
my greetings
some herbs
have you kiss
the eyes of the
one who lives
there
we were something
once upon a time
(mighta said thyme)
then it just ended
maybe she said
something i said
makes no nevermind
since it's always
gotta be on me
once we were
really something
then it grounded and
thudded to a dull end
we didn't think twice
and it's alright...'
forget about this notion
taking my greetings
with you, to give her
i'll just text her this
march 7, 2026
you know what to listen to
when you read this...
just two of us
lobbied in a
community kinda
college i never
been to or taught at
me grading exams
him learning to play
the accordion
i sure hope i didn't
distract him too much
salimli alieha
send her my greetings
my wishes for a beautiful life
convey to her my message
my message of love
send her my greetings
and kiss her hands
give her my message of love
that could never be
which she understands
far better than me...
send her my greetings
our nightimes of kisses
endless and fragrant
in the bath of moonlight
send her my greetings
and these memories
we never made...
sing her my greetings
sing her my greetings
in a longing uşşak
or the mysterious
wisdom of hüzzam
send her my greetings
with this melody in sabah
sing to her my greetings
soulfully from the heart
so she knows...
i miss her greetings
i miss her greetings
has she forgotten me?
no messages from afar
has she forgotten me?
without her greetings
without her love, i am
but a galley slave
aboard a ghost ship
on this sea of emptiness
i miss her greetings
by your river or mine?
under your orange tree
or my chestnut or apple?
you leaned against the tree
looking over the river
me lying down looking up
contemplating the bluest sky
through the leaves and branches
flickering sunlight and shadows
upon our very selves lost in
the slow dance of a shared dream
you begin to sing
old love songs, deeply rooted,
in our cultures that are both
so different and the same
you sing so semai-sweetly
bayati sweetly bitter
ayp tsa to my ears
acapellic songs of
of intense yearning
unbearable love
as the river
flowed
on...
always
retooling
retrenching
re-calibrating
rejuvenating
seemingly
forever
oh calm down
take a deep breath
start anew, restart
take a higher road
inspire yourself
be inspiring
be... alive and
just fucking do
something
you have that cool
aluminum pen
so, sit down
take another
maybe deeper breath
exhale and start
writing some
better shit
feeling desperation
mid-winter blues?
cabin fever?
fear of missing out?
no, none of these
not these at all
more a reality check
a settling reality
of aging out
i'm on another plane
a shorter runway
no air traffic control
and no parachute
but then i ain't flying
very fast
very high or
very far
yesteryearing
not for a lost homeland
a lifestyle never to be
relived by us
the offspring, the youngens
of the displaced survivors
now all gone
yesteryearing
not for the old west
but the masked hero
the trusted scout
william telling
for law and order
and justice always
in the purest truest
bestest propgandized
tv show could offer
a fifties kid that
stills lives within
hiyo silver... away
valentines day 2026
floating gracefully upon
the pluckish tendrilities
the babbling brookiness
the very armenian kanun
the effortless emanation
from marianna's heart and soul
i am there, in hayastan,
in amberd, at saghmosavank,
nowhere near yerevan
in the small villages
just imagining, channeling,
our tarn upon tarn
centuries older than old
sacred spirit vibrating
in our very genes
february 12, 2026
working
grading somethings and
listening, background
youtubing... you know
a few hours of shajarian
then randomly udi boghos
a fasil here or hüzzam
hrant, sayat, and tatyos
uşaklı, the kızzy one
neither tahir or there
and then...
it became poetic
something you sing
that you sing real good
and i just paused
as my soul drifted
in ethereal currents
headed in your
general direction
you texted a very
simple thought
"it's life you know"
i started to type
and backspace and
type and delete
again and once more
then...
i just stopped
just sat there
with nothing
nothing to say
nothing clever
no insight
no whimsy
certainly nothing
deep or profound
nothing at all
to convey
i just sat there
the sound of
one mind
doing nothing
idling, stalled
on the bay of
eerie tranquility
"it's life you know"
i guess i do
maybe the best
poem i ever read
maybe, probably,
no... for sure
this isn't the can
of slimy worms, nightmares,
dreamy dreams
snails, spiders, leeches
fluffy plush cumulus
lovey doveyness
stalking leopards, gazelles,
warlords, liberators
swords and plowshares
and any number of
scary primal
suppressed urges
that i want to open
a blurry of thoughts
while gently adrift in
the independent sway
of shallow emotions
lapping in counterpoint
to the tidal swell of this
the demotive sea
poeming while
vortexing in this
frozen suburban
misplaced tundra
can't help but feel
my inner zhivago
over and over again
in this bleak new age
more bleak and lonely
in this glorious cold
scribbling verses
well...
taping on a keyboard
trying real hard to
write something
profound, impactful
world changing
but no chance
of that today...
this thing
this thing we have
this beautiful thing
this friendship
this deep platonic
connective bond
forged in our
minds and souls
rooted in our
past and future
incarnations
this wonderful thing
can never ever, uh-uh
no way, ever become
you know, carnal
but, hey, i am just
stupid enough to...
okay then, enough
of these sugary
insulin laced
high fructose
'life is good'
corn syrupy
she or they
hell, all of 'em
are graceful swans
the earthly embodiment
of the ethereal...
eh, i will get back to that
but now, time for
a little rage
rage?
yeah... pissed off
upset, disillusioned
tired of the same old
same old, shit that is
and of what same old
do i dare be ragin' bout?
'tis the fucked up 'leaders'
that have us in
stupid wars
land grabs
that manipulate
way too many of us
to hate on others
to support their wars
their addictive lust for
money and power
more power
more money
no limits
ain't never enough
yeah...
and no worries
not a care for
who dies
who's displaced
no matter
what the fuck
anyone says
after a long, tiring, day
this cold winter night
you fell deep aslumber
on the couch cocooned
in my grandma's afghan
by the warming fire
watching you sleep
softly plucking
on karibian's oud
melodies known
mostly improvised
soft, sweet, uşşak,
gentle lullabies just
watching you sleep
watching you sleep
i laid the oud aside
for a notebook
replacing mizrab
with caran d'ache
and penned this poem
content and comforted
just watching you sleep
i have a muse
so undeserving to have one
so very blessed, so very...
how do i have a muse?
to muse and inspire
she does nothing
but simply be
a wave of her hand
fireflies appear
each one glowing
a poetic theme
as she walks
verses of wild flowers
bloom fragranced
in her wake
each one a dream
as she speaks
butterflies emanate
each flutter a
petite metaphor
a mere glance
a sonorous lament
an uplifting swell
heart and soul
melting and melding
and when she sings
'tis a master class
bübüls listening
for inspiration
i cannot explain
not in ten thousand
suddenly less mediocre
poems and songs
a simple word
in many songs
i've heard it often
maybe i've even
heard you sing it
this word in every
other song maqamed
in my head
knowing it was
meaningful in
some hopelessly
love lorn way
yet...
never bothering
to ask or try
to learn
i have seen the word
set in your face
steely icy hazel bluish
tear dropped almond
flecked kaleidoscopic
with bits of brown
teal and ebony
all set in the wonder
of divine geometry
it is the end of the day
tired and weary
i should be sleeping
but choosing instead
to write this little bit
writing tired and bleary
like driving drunk and dreary
really not a good idea...
what if something
deep and strong
something i would
or should or could
you know, never share
something dormant
in the dank subconscious
basement of my soul
made it's way into this poem
and we both realized
how i really felt about
the 'us' we never discuss
imagine that...
you think you are
because you have two
a cat lady
i think you are too
you glide gracefully
in and about
wherever you
wish to be...
aloof yet dedicated
actively lazily
doing what you
wish to do...
playfully solemn
radiantly quiet
contemplating what you
wish to wish...
wanting to be loved
but not possessed
loving nature
sun drenched
loving life
on the wish
of a wisp...
a blank page
a fresh start
anything is possible
anything we want
that ideal, that person,
we want to be
this year
this very first day
of this new year
it's different
we sense it
we know it
in our very core
no looking back
no surrender
i got this
you got this
we all got this
not just me
not just you
all of us
all of mankind
no matter
our differences
all our hatreds
and biases
that we've clutched
with such passion
most of our lives
'til this very day
it wasn't
until nine
a of the m
that the very first
pristine cynical thought
of this newborn year
bloomed in my head
breaking my old record
of 2 am...
i am encouraged
by my progress
