VICTORIA KRIKORIAN'S POETRY

SO YOU THOUGHT

Translated from Armenian by Daniel Janoyan
Glendale, August 28, 1997
 
So you thought there was no love in your heart,
But have you wondered about the nature of that love?
Or on what grounds was that love ever built?
Or whatever have you liked about that very love?

Is that love born from within your heart?
And into your heart goes what you call that "love"?
Do you really believe that, "that" is real love?
Or is it simply you want to live in the dark?

So you thought you were being nourished by love,
Or is it that love is being sought from within "love"?
Do you really believe that you have been loved?
Or is it you loved yourself despite all the confusion?

Don’t you think while expressing all your love affairs
Aren’t you also expressing many other trivial things?

How many types of love are there in this world?
And each one is subdivided into how many other types of love?
How many characters are there in this world?
And how many personalities does each one have?

How many times does a man live up to the expectations of love?
And whence has man experienced a true love?
And what has love offered mankind to this day
And whatever thoughts have been born from within these love affairs?

WHEN WE ARE HAPPY

Translated from Armenian by Daniel Janoyan
Glendale, CA, Spetember 20, 1999

When we are happy
The birds sing different songs
The eagle takes us with him
And the wind blows leaving behind its trace.

When we are happy
Sins of mankind become gentler
Buried hopes turn into volcanoes
Bursting from mother earth and here and there disperse.

When we are happy
The beatings of drums also take new rhythms
Diminishing our heart beats to make new songs
Echoing passon of living and loving.

When we are happy
The world suddenly turns into heaven
From a tiny atom a miracle bursts
Announcing the holy news of being happy, being happy.

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