KNOT Magazine
Fall Issue 2022
from Silva Zanoyan Merjanian´s
Poetry Collection, Rumor
RUMOR
A dyspeptic shadow on highways
in my pockets sweaty fingerprints
assurances, blue inked lint
no rooster’s crow in these streets
only in deep sleep one clutched to chest
spreading tacit rumors at dawn
of October rain’s euphony
raising nostalgia in dry heaves
tremor of promises under four inch heels
dull end of tongues grating truth
in lukewarm baths
maimed fox-tailed backseat drivers
washcloth in hand
veins licked raw on extended necks
nights, slurping myopic gods diurnal grins
I, in narcotic cities immune to mockery or praise
in smell of damp pews, dreams hostage
you, a rumor in euphony of rain
WE THE WOMEN
We hold our liqueur ‘tween our teeth
celebrate sisterhood as spit and swear
see our moistened pitted tongues
flick and flatter in daylight
pregnant magnets spinning in flight
we lift and probe with glances, crawl through skin
lipsticked kisses bubble and pop in hazed air
to sink in pinks and luscious reds over raised glasses
acid traces bend bright cherry umbrellas
to hide glare of spiced faces and timid- praise grins
we measure power in galloping breasts
enhanced, reduced, stretched, rounded, supported, bare
they wobble and trounce miles before our voices hound
to hold between our legs knowing smiles
gathered from each others lashed raw backs
we bring our mines to blessed hills with severed sights
flirt within our lips drawn thin over stringed faux pas
we lie in crinoline holding the devil hostage intrauterine
smoldering alone until rivalry rings grow dim
while we kegel our resolve in stories misty and grim
kiss kiss, let’s do this again soon
a lizard licks the last drop of sun off my skin
MY SLIVERED LEBANON
She remembers fragments
broken in thin lights
city suspended in delicate lies
lounging gods, bouncing tranquil shores
golden rays, stories dancing on limestone
where Pigeon’s Rock once kissed azure waters
and settled in drunk faithfulness
oh how a flirtatious moon
loved spread of silvery thighs on shimmering sea
oblivious drum-beats spilling from yachts
and lovers’ locked gaze heaving under moss-covered walls
stolen kisses rising in giggles to envious skies
caught in olive trees, lining French named streets
but she whispers in shadows of her nights
of another time
when biblical cedars bowed in others’ blood
and clouds wept salted Mediterranean prayers
sanguine vines on alabaster legs
held balconies by one iron thread
terror on tongues wet with warm milk
brought mothers to their knees
doves on rooftops flying in circles
witnessed vultures pecking at cadavers
smell of burning flesh
feel of red shrapnel
sound of explosions
ferment only in her head
yet still deafen thunders
and blind grieving Shapash
she whispers in shadows of her nights
of another time
where once Anath feasted on figs and dates
licked honey off her fingers
rolled ethnic bulging dice
dashing hope and ashes wide
Shapash – Phoenician goddess of sea
Anath – Phoenician goddess of love and war
Silva Zanoyan Merjanian is a widely published poet who grew up in Beirut, Lebanon. She moved to Geneva during the Lebanese civil war after personally experiencing the devastation of her beloved country. She later settled in California to raise her two sons with her husband. Her poetry reflects a little of what she took with her from each city she lived in. The nostalgia for her roots, her Armenian heritage, her deep sense of humanity reduced and elevated at the same time in life’s events, permeate through her poems. Her work is featured in anthologies and international poetry journals. Irish writer and performer Eabha Rose recently read five of her poems; Choices, Rooftop, Doves of Beirut, Suicide and Home which gained international acclaim. Her first volume of poetry, Uncoil a Night, was released in 2013. You may contact her at silvamerjanian@gmail.com.
Works from Author
