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The Literary Groong - 07/31/2004

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	SOUVENIR

	By Helene Pilibosian


	Did you bring me
	a handful of soil from the homeland,
	forgetting that it's earth
	from the same planet as the American,
	not Venus nor Mars
	nor Saturn but only
	dark soil with its own minerals--
	the old kings and queens
	still meting out memories
	like party favors,
	the sisters directing
	the roundness of eternal bread,
	the brothers coaxing the seeds
	with unlearned plow and buffalo,
	the merchants mingling
	with magnificent ships?
	Did you bring me
	a hint of the breeze
	that teased your hair
	as no other breeze would dare
	or the stares of the mountain paths
	the Armenian aura
	outlined with such clarity?
	Did you bring me
	that little bit of love
	that boiled down from cooking
	over the stove of history
	in the clay pot of living?
	Did you bring me the day 
	that sports debates of employment
	and whistle-wails of work
	or the night which highlights
	an owl's or cat's eyes
	prowling as animal rights,
	their definition of the word
	influenced by the heard,
	the seen, the void, the tried?

	The amber necklace you brought
	reveals these passions congealed. 


	Copyright 2004 Helene Pilibosian
 
--
Helene Pilibosian is the author of two collections of poetry: Carvings
From an Heirloom and At Quarter Past Reality (a prizewinner) and has
many poems published in American literary journals such as the North
American Review, Willow Review and The Cape Rock. She is the owner of
Ohan Press whose bilingual website is at http://home.comcast.net/~hsarkiss

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