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."