Passwords
We don't need a huge
vocabulary.
Say "Dikran" and the walls
of Dikranagerd rise.
Say "Ani" and a hundred
church bells peal
in a wild
shower of sound.
Say "Der Zor" and
the Euphrates
sinks to a dried
red dusty bed.
With "Yerevan"
multi-colored
fountains bloom.
Say "tsaks"* and
your mother's smile
crosses time
like light.
*Tsak is Armenian for "chick" or "little one."