When tides of the Great flood have reacquired Their calm within the limits of the land, Out of the foaming trace, unseen and quiet Crawled Love and made its way onto the sand Dissolving in the air till time required - Forever and a day that would demand. And now and then some oddballs still appear That will inhale this mixture with no fear, Awaiting neither punishment nor pleasure, And thinking to themselves - they breathe just so, When suddenly their breath will come in row With other breath of same uneven measure. But the feeling is to stay above And afloat, akin to ships at sea, Long before the learning comes that “love” Has the meaning same to “breathe” or “be”. There will be many odysseys and chases, The land of Love is grand for every guest. Its knights must travel to the distant places As every day is tougher in their quest, They’re kept apart by distances and spaces, They are deprived of peaceful sleep and rest. But then the madmen won’t turn back around, To pay the charges they’re already bound, They’d risk their lives, all costs would be accepted Just to preserve, just to not let untie The magic thread invisible to eye With which they are so fatefully connected. And the wind would thrill them ever more, Knock them down, and from the dead retrieve, For the one who did not love before Did not ever breathe or ever live. Alas, to call them is a fruitless matter, For many which have drowned in love are dead. Their count is kept by vanity and chatter, But on their blood is how that count is bred. They died from love unthinkable, and later We’ll place our burning candles at their head. Their souls are flowers in the garden sun, Their voices are to join and flow as one, They’ll breathe as one the infinite elation, And with a sigh, they meet again among The fragile bridges where the rivers run At narrow crossroads of the world’s creation. I’ll spread fields for lovers to lie down Let them sing, awake or in their dream. For I breathe and therefore I love For I love and therefore I am.
© Eugenie Sarkisyants. Translation, 2012