IN THE SHELL ISLAND

	by Armenuhi Minasian


	I was an observant guest
	In Shell Island Today.
	The bay was full of
	Countless shells.
	The waves every second
	Were tossing out in haste
	New-new piles of Scallops
	Empty shells;
	Some-colorful, some-pale,
	In various measures
	And shapes,
	New-new piles of Scallops
	Bare shells...
	The children were playing
	Carelessly with them,
	Peopl were collecting
	Fancy shells,
	And the oceans itself
	Tireless and endless
	Was conducting the shells' crashes on bays...


--
Armenuhi Minassian was born in the village of Mughni in Ashtarak
District of Armenia. She's a graduate from the Yerevan State
University with a Masters degree in Armenian Language and Literature
and in Teaching.  For several years she worked as a teacher in #155
Secondary school of Yerevan. Armenouhi started to write poetry when
she was 10. Her first poem was broadcast by Armenian radio when she
was in the third grade. She received her first award for reading her
poetry in the Scholastic Olympics competition in 1966. Her first
article was published in the Ashtarak district Newspaper in 1972.

Armenoui migrated to the United States in 1993. In 2001, a collection
of her poetry was published in Los Angeles under the title "Veratsnund".
Her poems have appeared in "Hi Life", "Asbarez", "Azdarar", "New
Mirage Quarterly" and in several anthologies including "The Best Poets
and Poems of 2002". Her new poetry collection "Mundane Yearnings",
written in Armenian, is ready for publication. Recently she started to
write song lyrics both in English and Armenian.