STONES OF ARMENIA
	(After Pablo Neruda's The Stones of Chile)

	by Shushan Avagyan


	Cross-stones of Armenia, sprouting
	from beneath the churches,
	with arms cut-off
	dark, mute grooms,
	that orphaned 
	slouch underneath the sun,
	in solitude, in ache, in stiffness,
	in crystal elegy, in stoic calm,
	as rows of brides
	with slit throats
	and broken hymens,
	desperately crowd the rivers
	in springtime,
	impatient
	to reach
	the Caspian shore.
	Stones
	of Siamanto,
	each one
	marrying
	a bride
	on the page,
	relentlessly
	in wait
	for a
	first
	kiss
	or a stolen
	word
	frozen 
	on her terrible lips.


--
Shushan Avagyan was born in Yerevan, Armenia.  She is currently
working on her master's degree in English Literature, and is a
recipient of the Dalkey Archive Press fellowship at the Illinois
State University.