Alan Whitehorn: Struggling With Memories of a Genocide

My grandmother
an orphan child of the Armenian genocide
lost
her entire family,
Genocide Denial
and never knew her real name
or her true age.
She endured
five years in refugee camps
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before traveling to Egypt
to be adopted by an Armenian family.
Now part of the scattered diaspora,
a marriage was arranged with an older man.
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Metzmama’s first child
was a daughter -
my mother.
It was the beginning of a family.
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Soon, a second child was expected,
but my grandfather
could not cope,
with the awful memories of genocide.
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Grandfather committed suicide.
He became another victim
choosing to end his suffering.
Grandmother was now an orphan
turned widow.
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Somehow,
Metzmama endured.
A child prematurely aged,
but still a survivor
with memories and responsibilities.
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With the help of a new husband,
she raised three children
who, in turn, had four grandchildren,
and still more great grandchildren.
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We live
We remember
We are even willing to forgive.
But first,
we demand one thing:
Stop genocide denial.



Alan Whitehorn



Unpublished poem, drafted while attending the Zoryan summer workshop on comparative genocide and human rights, Toronto, August, 2007.