The walnut tree
September 24, 2001
My grandfather
invited me
to help him plant
a small walnut tree -
a shelter for birds
in sun and rain,
a living memorial
to his name.
Time passed and I am
a grandfather now
with small children
playing under its boughs.
We sit in the cool
walnut tree's shade
in the shadow my
grandfather made.
Sarmen (pen name of Armenak Sarkisian)
translated from the Armenian by Diana Der-Hovanessian