Monument
(A poem for April 24th, when Armenians commemorate what they term a genocide of 2 million that began on that day in 1915.)
Today, let every one of us
for one second forget tears.
And we will not have
two million sorrows.
Today, this once,
let every one of us
have only kindly thoughts
and we will have
two million feelings
that are pure.
Today, let every one of us
keep a pulsating star in mind
and we will have a sky
of two million stars.
Today let every one of us
plant a seed
into this red earth
our vein's earth
and we will have a wreath
with two million blossoms.
Today let every one of us
awaken the child within us
and we will have
innocents, two million strong.
Every year upon this day
let every one of us
find a star, a flower, a child
and we will multiply
again, again two million flowers,
children and stars.
Editor's note: According to some contemporary historical accounts, about 1.5 million died as a result of a mass deportation from Ottoman Turkey following revolutionary acts by Armenians seeking independence.
