ԱՐՏԵՄ ՀԱՐՈՒԹՅՈՒՆՅԱՆ։ ԵՍ ԴԵՌ ՉԵՄ ՎԵՐԱԴԱՐՁԵԼ ԵՐԿԻՐՍ
I'M STILL RETURNING
I.
Shushi City, ash-stones.
Today the bird fliesover the ruins,
it forgets the start of the holocaust,
it recalls nothing but the wormwood;
alone, shredded in the wind,
I was free to die.
A lone night drew a new sun and life.
A child watched from the window
melding into the mother's gaze.
I beseech you
my dear friends,
roots of plans and dying trees,
turn at last into my dwelling place.
II.
Now that years have passed,I can say --
Blessed be the one, in hospital, in stadium,
in the orgies of private fantasy,
Blessed be the one living in shadows,
and the core of the blinding light,
The one with sunken hips and mighty loins,
whose grave has the measurements
of the universe,
Blessed, with and without tears in the eyes;
the divine loudspeaker turns our laughs
III.
I have yet to return to my land;
if I return I will not find me.
I shall see the silence over the country spread,
the heavy granite padlock of the door,
the green silk of the mulberry trees,
with which the land weaves its
ceremonial garb,
without the cares of those who live.
I'm still returning to my land;
Wandering with open arteries
I see the burning of the ancient soil,
the sharp cry of cities awakening,
and the dense beginnings of abandoned ivy,
turning to shadow from day to day,
covering the beginning as well as the end.
Tasting the crumbs of immortality,
I wipe away tears of hope.
Today the bird fliesover the ruins of Shushi,
no longer alone in the shredding wind.
I was free to die.
Translated by Tatul Sonentz.