PUBLICATIONS
'DARK FRESCOES' AND DICHOTOMIES
a book review of Celeste Nazeli Snowber's
The Marrow of Longing
...Here, Marrow’s thesis comes to life: outward expression manifest as a force of light against a deep history, illuminating the invisible slag — desire, memory, and reconciliation — that floats within the space of our identity and being (sometimes without our permission). We all have frescoes on our inner arches, entrenched in darkness, aching for light. We all exist dichotomously, in-between, and in the “poetics of parts” we’re allowed to embrace the difficulties within ourselves to better bind us to the timeline that came before and will exist well after… our ancestors, our contemporaries, and our descendants all...
'VASPURAKAN'S ECHO'
Artsakh Trilogy pt. 1
"Here was a poet who reacted to the Artsakh war, a critical moment for the Armenian nation, by evoking obscure and sometimes worn-out references in Armenian culture, yet spinning them in such a way as to make them resonate in unpredictable and mind-blowing ways."
Mournful chimes buried deep
down the insatiable esophagus of war,
trapped by specks of dust caught in my throat,
floating frustrated by false promises
like stars that hang still in suspense
above Mount Ararat.
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'NEW NAVASARDIAN, A SULLEN ODE'
Artsakh Trilogy pt. 2
The tone is markedly darker than in “Vaspurakan’s Echo,” and I am evoking the powerful image of one of our old deities, Spandaramet... According to various sources, Spandaramet represents both the fertility of the earth and the fact that it’s a resting place for the dead.
You are fed, O Shadow of the Soil,
uncompromising host to thousands of fallen soldiers and counting.
Cups crimson though not with wine,
drunk from the dead, overflowing and frantic—
spilling and staining our soul’s silent edge.
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'THE EXILED CRANE
Artsakh Trilogy pt. 3
Generations of Armenians have been haunted by the crane, one of the most potent and emotive symbols ingrained in the Armenian psyche. Ever since Komitas Vardapet addressed the bird in his soulful song of a wanderer, “Oh crane, don’t you have news from our homeland?” it has been associated with ill omen, leaving the question unanswered.
“Should you see him again, one day,
do not deafen yourself to his unspoken pain.
Be sure to take heed in your numb stupor:
We must bring Artsakh back to us again.”
“Now, I carry this message and malignant mark
to the many exiles of sun and stone,
since only by their will and power
can Armenia’s fateful tapestry be sewn.”
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