Live from Holy Cross: Peter Bricklebank reading Rouben Sevak

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Peter Bricklebank and Sarah Van Arsdale 

Photo by Lola Koundakjian

Edelweiss

On my wall, wordless, pale, 

covering an unseen nail 

its freshness evaporates 

as it wilts and browns,

its petals gradually fade 

losing its delicate 

bouquet. What ill wind 

brought it down

from the mountains 

to this fate of 

crumbling pistils 

drooping crowns

as the coiled petals dry, 

unclasping to velvet ash?

But still it keeps 

the unreached heights 

of my dreams in its white 

heart of edelweiss.

ROUBEN SEVAK

*A small white herb growing high in the Alps whose name in Armenian is Lion's Paw. It is the symbol for freedom in Austrian and Armenian poetry. Roupen Sevag recovered in the Alps from tuberculosis contracted as a medical student.

From Poetry of  our Time