Kosrof Chantikian: Shadow of the Poem You Are

the life of the tree, the heart of the tree

the tree of silence where language is without words

because words are for us

and yet you speak in the tongue of silence

of the oak, as if to say to it and to the air

moving over your hands

I am the voice of your dream come to watch over you

I am the sun from whose strength you were born

you turn to me and taking my hand

lead me to that place where memory lives alone.

it is there where the sea begins

where mountains receive their names

where snow has never been.

it is in this place no star has ever seen

that I shall wait for your return.

it is here in these moments of stillness

where the word lives

where the unsayable may be said

that I shall come to you

shadow of the poem you are

Kosrof Chantikian

"Shadow of the Poem You Are" was published in Ararat (Summer 2005, No. 183). The editor wishes to thank Mr. Chantikian for sending it to APP.