Sylvia Gaboudikian, "What I Notice"

[the-grynne.livejournal.com]

WHAT I NOTICE

You ignite
it, hold it
lightly,
as if to
show
something
about us
you want
me to know.
You exhale
warmth
that would
burn me,
flicking
ash,
breathing
slowly,
out of
habit,
just to
pass
time,
alleviating
boredom.
You don't
inhale
but put it
down
to forget
and fail
to finish,

smoking
only part
of each
cigarette.


SYLVIA GABOUDIKIAN

Translated from the Armenian by Diana Der-Hovanessian