Shaunt Basmajian: On Filling out another Job Application

only my address has changed
my phone number
still seems to stay the same
and the list of
appointments references and positions
goes on forever


i walk
up and down
the city street
and wait
my turn in line
in a corporate office building
for a job
i know i won't get


i fill out a questionnaire
and then head over
to a union hall
where i'm forced to do
the same
greeted by a computer
and a digit as my name
amongst 300 other applicants
for a job
that will eventually terminate


after the interview
i take a break
and drink a cup of
cold coffee
in a shopping mall
recently subsidized
by the government
before i head back home
where i share a meaningless
conversat[i]on
with a friend
about politics
the prime minister's
recent trip abroad
and of course
the so called
"sagging" economy
while waiting fiendishly
for a call
i know i won't get




Other Channels, an Anthology of new Canadian poetry, edited by Shaunt Basmajian and Jones

Shaunt Basmajian: After Weeks and Weeks in the Intensive Care Unit

bfp(h)aGe.
Toronto: Sober Minute Press, February 1989

Shaunt Basmajian: Deeper into the Mind

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Toronto: Sober Minute Press, February 1989

Shaunt Basmajian: THE UNESTABLISHED POET

instead
of a new lover
he fantasizes
a penguin publication
royalties
a cottage
by the sea

after a reading
he prefers to get drunk
and think more about
his new poem
instead of the
phone number he received
from an admirer
tormented by one of his
“fillers” he wrote
just to get published
in a small press
magazine

for entertainment
he watches the hockey game
buys lottery tickets
goes to the racetrack
hoping to win
like a longshot
as the underdog
odds
at 10,000 to 1

Shaunt Basmajian, copyright 1987, from Biased Anthologies

Shaunt Basmajian: Waving the flag for the wrong reasons

unable to find a good job
cope with urban reality
dance with the system
the post-downtown poet
tries to figure out ways
to avoid his life
like the rest of the 20th
century

in the back alley of an urban
north american street
he contemplates life
the sad state of the world
his existence
with and without reason

drinks a beer
at a down and out tavern
argues with a pensioner
about politics
the current state of the economy

waving the flag
for more deficits and wars
for more welfare cheques and
violence
for more crime and social injustice
for the next 5-10-15 years
waving the flag
without reason


Shaunt Basmajian, copyright 1987, from Biased Anthologies

Shaunt Basmajian: EXCUSES FOR LIVING

the triactor in the tenth race
a winning lottery ticket
the million dollar mail sweepstakes
1001 relationships
a mansion over the hill
a major recording contract
an international best seller
love

Shaunt Basmajian, copyright 1987, from Biased Anthologies

Shaunt Basmajian

Dear Canadian readers of the Armenian Poetry Project: I am searching for more information regarding this author.


Thanks -- Lola Koundakjian, Curator and Producer of APP.




Shaunt Basmajian (30 September 1950 — 25 January 1990) was a Canadian poet and author.

Born in Beirut, Lebanon to Armenian parents, Basmajian emigrated to Canada when he was seven years old. He was a founder of the Canadian Poetry Association, co-founder of Old Nun Publications (with Ted Plantos), and was a member of the Parliament Street Library poetry group. The Shaunt Basmajian Chapbook Award, given annually to a Canadian poet, was established in his memory.