Marianne Azakian: Walking Home

night came suddenly.
A tree in front of me
blocked my steps.
I walked toward it.

The leaves turned gold;
they glowed in the dark.
I saw a book under the tree.
It spoke to me.

“Turn back,” it said,
“Go away. You’re not
wanted here!” The lake
behind the tree glimmered.

Two people played guards.
They called me closer.
I stood still. I played deaf.
The lake came closer.

I fell in. Everything
turned murky, I guess
this was the end.
I wish I was dry tonight

and walking home.


Marianne Azakian is a member of poet-principal Shahé Mankerian’s eighth grade class at St. Gregory’s Hovsepian School in Pasadena, California. Her poem echoes William Michaelian’s “Armenian Music,” which she chose to read during the school’s annual Café Poetry Night, held on April 19, 2008.

Click here to listen to the audio clip of Walking Home read by William Michaelian.

Click here to read the English and Armenian versions of Armenian Music by William Michaelian.