User:Poetrylife/Alicia Ghiragossian

Biography

July 13, 1936 - May 22, 2014

Alicia Ghiragossian passed away on May 22, 2014, after a short but intense battle with pancreatic cancer. She died at the home of her daughter surrounded by loving family.

Born in Argentina, where her parents found refuge escaping from genocide, she has been drawn by the imposition of her blood; a blood that followed her to the United States of America, where she resides at present. Hence, there is an imprint of three cultures in her trilingual production. In the history of literature there are few authors who, like Kahlil Gibran, write in more than one language and Alicia is one of them. Perhaps she is the only poet in the world who writes in three languages: English, Spanish and Armenian. Her works have been published in Italian, Persian, Greek and French and have also been translated into Portuguese, Russian and Swedish.

Furthermore, Alicia Ghiragossián is the only living poet whose work has been illustrated by the legendary Pablo Picasso.

The uniqueness of this author of her 61 published volumes of fascinating poetry (many of them published by the National Academy of Arts and Literature of Armenia, and Urartu American University of Armenia), is accented in the creation of her theories: 1) on metadimensional poetry, regarding the elements of metaphors to make an expression timeless; 2) on the power of the newly born child to create the mother, and 3) on the existence of soul DNA as opposed to blood DNA, through which we inherit our past self registered on the subtleties of our souls.

Literary experts agree: “Alicia is an extraordinary phenomenon. Women like her, make the history of the spirit possible.”

She started writing in Spanish at the age of fourteen. Her first poetry book was published in 1966 and her sudden rise to fame occurred in 1967 when her second book was translated into Italian and published in Italy with the illustrations of Picasso, Fontana, Petorutti, Presta and Le Parc. Almost simultaneously a selection of her poems translated into Armenian appeared in the literature vault of Soviet Armenia.

For the first time in universal history, a black market for poetry was created. Newspapers that published a new poem of hers would be sold for twenty times its original price. When her first book in Armenian was published in Yerevan it was an instant best seller and she became an overnight legend.

There was a whirlwind in the field of poetry at all levels and a legion of admirers and followers of her work was born, from factory workers to academicians. Her poems were read and sung all over the country. Inspired by her poetry, artists sculpted her bust and painted her portrait. The media echoed her creations and announced the birth of a star. They called her poetry “a monumental cross stone, miracle poetry” and “a phenomenon.” Subsequently, her manuscripts and bronze bust were kept at the National Museum of Art and Literature of Armenia. Her impact is enormous and indelible. In fact, poetry written in Armenian, since 1967 is heavily inspired and influenced by the wording and style of her multi-thematic work, by the voice of her sensitive soul and by her boundless imagery.

Some medical doctors in Armenia have stated that her recorded voice, reading her poems, has a soothing and mesmerizing effect in their patients, provoking a change in them at a cellular level. It was said that her voice and poetry have healing powers. In general, during the last four decades her work has been nourishing and enriching the souls of her readers.

In Argentina, she graduated from the University of Buenos Aires as an attorney, yet she always pursued arts and literature. She constantly wrote poetry and performed as stage actress. And many composers, such as internationally acclaimed Argentine tango icon Astor Piazzolla, composed music inspired by her poetry in 1969.

Around that time, she founded the meta-dimensional school of poetry, where she formulated the equation of metaphors and advocated freedom from old rules, elimination of rhymes, construction of inner rhythm, synthesis and economy of expression and the abolition of anecdotal discourses or rhetorical proclamations. Alicia is also in favor of discarding external landscape descriptions. Her landscapes are those of the soul, the mind and the heart. She is also into essence and depth and favors suggestion over declaration, embodying in her suggestions a light that transcends time.

In 1993, at the University of San Pablo, Brazil, her work was the subject of a thesis for a Ph.D. in Literature.

Dr. Ghiragossián has conducted workshops in Modern Poetry at UCLA, given lectures at universities in various countries and participated in world congresses. Throughout her life she has won the respect, endorsement and admiration of several world icons and Nobel Peace Laureates, such as His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, John Hume and Dr. Oscar Arias Sanchez.

In 2007, she received an Award from the Philosophical Academy of Armenia, “for her meta-dimensional philosophy in poetry.” She was honored, as well by the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia with the title of “honorary doctor.”

International giants like Prevert, Ibarbourou and Saroyan have praised the beauty of her verses… and Picasso has illustrated her work. Perhaps in his eyes she had the uncommon ability to dissect the soul through words the same way the artist severed his images. Her work has been admired by legendary poets of Armenia: Shiraz, Sevak, Emin and Kaputikian, among others… In many ways, Ghiragossián is considered the last bastion of the Armenian Renaissance in poetry.

Argentine writers have also expressed their amazement toward her work: Borges, Petit de Murat, Tiempo, Tálice, Koremblit and many others, as well as Argentine artists who illustrated her work: Urruchúa, Bruzzone, Policastro and Grandi. In the United States of America a significant number of articles and reviews appeared highlighting her “extraordinary creative talent,” including the Los Angeles Journal and the Book Wire Review.

Although attached to her Armenian roots, her voice is not local. It has a universal range, because it is transcendental. For that reason her work has resonated in the hearts of her readers and has earned hundreds of testimonials.

Her vision of the world and her connection with the universe make Alicia Ghiragossián as multifaceted as a kaleidoscope. Nothing escapes her eyes, and her heart doesn’t stand indifferent to anything, as if she channels the spirits of the great poets in history. There is an ever present quest for love in the folds of her verses; a love that outspreads to peace, her roots, motherhood, truth and spiritual beauty.

Reading her lines we believe that love is the magical influence to purify, transport, elevate and recreate the being; we are convinced it is the key to open the roads to an elevated state of being, made of particles of light; the path for the alchemical miracle to metamorphose the impure into the pure; the source of true happiness.

She is the poet who understands that the lack of love in the world opens the roads to pain, isolation, fear, injustice and wars. She comments: “Humanity needs to comprehend the weight of love. We must inject that love into all relationships, in pursuit of a peaceful and enjoyable life on earth.”

Her verdict is final: love is the supreme code, the final seal, the Alpha and the Omega… of everything.

There is no doubt that Alicia Ghiragossián is profoundly idealistic. She rebels against the corruption in society, the vanities, the shallowness, the game of interests, the corrosion of envy and other human weaknesses and brings a new scope through her perceptions. However, her merits are not only in her most subtle ideas, feelings and perceptions, or her talent to express them. Her mission is to resurrect the lost love for poetry by adding sound to it, through her readings. She intends to bring back the Renaissance of poetry, because she believes that poetical expressions are powerful and their energy is directly captured by the soul, which grows in refinement under the influence of poetry that elevates you.

There is no doubt that the creation of Alicia Ghiragossián is a gift to the people of the world, a valuable contribution to enhance the purpose and value of life. They inspire introspection into those issues that are substantial for a harmonious global existence.

Books

2010.- COMPLETE WORKS, in English, Urartu University, Armenia
2010.- COMPLETE WORKS, in Spanish, Urartu University, Armenia
2009.- AN INCONVENIENT GENOCIDE, A new Age Publications, USA
2009.- WORDS TO LIVE BY (Selected Quotations)
2009.- LOVE IS THE CODE (A selection of the poet’s best love verses)
2009.- BEYOND THE WORD MOTHERHOOD
2009.- INTERVIEW WITH GOD vol. I, II, III, IV
2008.- THE COLOR OF ETERNITY (memoirs, in English), unpublished.
2007.- THE COLOR OF ETERNITY (movie script, in English), unpublished.
2007.- LOVE HOLOGRAMS (poems in English), Los Angeles, USA.
2006.- WAR AND TRUTH (bilingual poems: English-Spanish), National Academy of Arts and Literature of Armenia, Los Angeles, USA.
2006.- GOOD MORNING, ARTSAKH (poems in English), unpublished.
2006.- GOOD MORNING, ARTSAKH (poems in Armenian), unpublished.
2005.- PEACE QUANTUM (trilingual poems: English, Spanish, Armenian), Yerevan State University, Armenia.
2005.- COMPLETE WORKS IN ARMENIAN, National Academy of Arts and Literature of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia.
2002.- TOP SECRETS OF EXISTENCE (summary on metaphysical subjects, in English), unpublished.
2001.- TO THE LOVE IN MY DREAMS (monologue in English), unpublished.
1999.- DICTIONARY OF DANCING THOUGHTS AND POEMS, Los Angeles, USA.
1998.- COMPLETE WORKS (in Armenian), Los Angeles, USA.
1998.- COMPLETE WORKS (in Spanish), Los Angeles, USA.
1998.- COMPLETE WORKS (in English), Los Angeles, USA.
1998.- ONE AND A HALF MILLENNIA OF LOVE (poems in Armenian), Los Angeles, USA.
1998.- ONE AND A HALF MILLENNIA OF LOVE (poems in Spanish), Los Angeles, USA.
1998.- ONE AND A HALF MILLENNIA OF LOVE (poems in English), Los Angeles, USA.
1997.- BEYOND THE STARS (poems in English), Los Angeles, USA.
1997.- BEYOND MEMORIES (poems in Spanish), Los Angeles, USA.
1997.- BEYOND MEMORIES (poems in English), Los Angeles, USA.
1997.- INTERVIEW WITH GOD, volumes I,II,III and IV (poems in Armenian), Los Angeles, USA.
1997.- INTERVIEW WITH GOD, volumes I,II,III and IV (poems in Spanish), Los Angeles, USA.
1997.- INTERVIEW WITH GOD, volumes I,II,III and IV (poems in English), Los Angeles, USA.
1997.- BEYOND WORDS (anthology of poems in English), Los Angeles, USA.
1994.- BEYOND THE STAGE FOR HEAVEN (dialogued storypoems, English version of Pedro Amor), 2nd edition, Los Angeles, USA.
1994.- BEYOND THE WORD ROOTS (poems in English), 2nd edition, Los Angeles, USA.
1994.- BEYOND THE WORD MEDITATION (poems in English), 2nd edition, Los Angeles, USA.
1994.- BEYOND THE WORDS LOVE AND MOTHERHOOD (poems in English), 2nd edition, Los Angeles, USA.
1994.- ALTAR II (poems in Armenian), 2nd edition, Los Angeles, USA.
1994.- ALTAR I (poems in Armenian), 2nd edition, Los Angeles, USA.
1994.- DIALOGUES FROM BEYOND (dialogued story-poems, Armenian version of Pedro Amor), 2nd edition, Los Angeles, USA.
1994.- METADIMENSIONAL POETRY (theory of poetizing, in Armenian, English and Spanish), 2nd edition, Los Angeles, USA.
1992.- BEYOND THE STAGE FOR HEAVEN (dialogued story-poems, English version of Pedro Amor), Los Angeles, USA.
1992.- BEYOND THE WORD ROOTS (poems in English), Los Angeles, USA.
1992.- BEYOND THE WORD MEDITATION (poems in English), Los Angeles, USA.
1992.- BEYOND THE WORDS LOVE AND MOTHERHOOD (poems in English), Los Angeles, USA.
1992.- ALTAR II (poems in Armenian), Los Angeles, USA.
1992.- ALTAR I (poems in Armenian), Los Angeles, USA.
1992.- DIALOGUES FROM BEYOND (dialogued storypoems, Armenian version of Pedro Amor), Los Angeles, USA.
1992.- METADIMENSIONAL POETRY (theory of poetization, in Armenian, English and Spanish), Los Angeles, USA.
1989.- MOTHERHOOD POEMS, (poems in Spanish), edited by Ediciones de Poesía La Lámpara Errante, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1985.- LETTRE POUR L’ARMENIE (selected poems in French), edited by Editions Caracteres Publishing House, Paris, France. Translations by Claude Couffon-Juan Marey.
1985.- 40+1 LOVE CONFESSIONS (selected poems in Greek), edited by Themelio Publishing House, Athens, Greece. Translations by Phaedra Zambatha and Hagop Djelalian.
1983.- CONFESSION (anthology of poems in Armenian), 2nd edition. Los Angeles, USA.
1982.- CONFESSION (anthology of poems in Armenian), Los Angeles, USA.
1981.- ANTHOLOGY OF POEMS (in Spanish), Los Angeles, USA .
1979.- LETTER TO ARMENIA (anthology of poems in Armenian), Yerevan, Armenia. Translated by Vahakn Tavtian.
1974.- ROOTS AND ESSENCE (anthology of poems in Armenian), 2nd edition, Los Angeles, USA.
1972.- AFTER THE ASHES AND LETTER TO ARMENIA (poems in Spanish), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1972.- ANTIWORLD (poems in Spanish), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1972.- TWO IN ORBIT (poems in Spanish), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1972.- BEING AND PUNCTUATION (poems in Spanish), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1970.- MEMORIES OF ARMENIA (prose in Spanish), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1970.- IN TIME, IN LOVE, IN PEACE (poems in Spanish), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1969.- PETER LOVE (dialogued story-poems in Spanish), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1967.- ROOTS AND ESSENCE (anthology of poems in Armenian), Yerevan, Armenia. Translated by Vahakn Tavtian.
1967.- BEING AND PUNCTUATION (poems, Italian version), Milan, Italy. Translation by Pedro Fiori.
1966.- ONE DAY FIVE VOICES (poems in Spanish), Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Testimonials

“The Color of Eternity is a modern masterpiece and Interview with God is phenomenal! You are a genius.”
ROBERT DANIELAK, Literary Agent, Los Angeles, USA, 2008.

“What lovely and profound work.”
BILL RICHARDSON, Governor of New Mexico, USA, 2008.

“I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.”
BARACK OBAMA, United States President, 2008.

“Ghiragossián's view is undoubtedly that of a mystic. Her poems have a lyrical, soaring quality that evokes cathedrals; they are filled with exhortations to God and expressions of the joy of being engulfed by a divine love that leaves peace in its wake.”
THE BOOK WIRE REVIEW, USA, 2006

“… Delves into mysticism and spiritual awareness and possible pathways to healing with a pretty neat concept of tapping into the frequencies that affect human behavior and can change the universe.”
ROBERT PRITCHETT, Internet Review, USA, 2006.

“Her poetry is designed to register directly into the subconscious.”
eMEDIAWIRE, USA, 2006.

“Alicia possesses an ability to describe the language of the heart with unforgettable metaphors and vivid images...An instinctive and extraordinary capacity for imaginative creation.” BILL LONG, writer, Internet Column, 2006.


“Her poetry is so moving...[It] carries a magnetic force that surpasses the idea that peace on this planet is merely a hope.”
LOS ANGELES JOURNAL, EMILY DEAN, reporter, 2006.

“So much poetry…so much light between Earth and Heaven.”
ALBINO GOMEZ, Ambassador, writer, journalist, Argentina, 2005

“A masterpiece. A new sunrise in literature and life.”
ABGAR APINIAN, president of the National Academy of Arts and Literature of Armenia, 2005.

“From the haunting history of her ancestral land, Armenia, Alicia Ghiragossián draws the inspiration for her soaring and timeless poetry. She is an eloquent witness to the enduring human quest for peace.”
DR. OSCAR ARIAS SANCHEZ, Nobel Peace Laureate, Costa Rica, 2005.

“Books like these will contribute towards the spread of peace in the world and I would like to add my support….”
HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA, Nobel Peace Laureate, India, 2005.

“I am glad to have it (Peace Quantum).”
LAWRENCE H. SUMMERS, President of Harvard University, USA, 2005.

“There is no doubt that the philosophy of this book (Peace Quantum) by Dr. Alicia Ghiragossián could be of great value….”
JOHN HUME, Nobel Peace Laureate, member of the British Parliament, England, 2005.

“ …A wonderful collection of poems, both inspiring and moving.”
EDWARD MORTIMER, Director of Communications of UNITED NATIONS, 2005.

“I have had the good fortune of reading and rereading her work in both English and Spanish, and I must say that I have enjoyed them no end. Her creativity is unquestionable. Her originality and ingenuity come across in every aspect of her artistic endeavors."
ROBERTO GALVAN, South West Texas University, 1999 & 2001.

“The creation of Alicia Ghiragossián has its deserved place in our millenary literature, not only for its national value, but for its humanistic ideals. The singular philosophy of her poetry is an elegy to kindness, to humanness, to beauty.”
M.K. KILAVIAN, Ph. D., Rector of the Faculty of Philology at the Pedagogical Institute of Armenia, 1998.

“Alicia Ghiragossián is one of the most marvelous poets of our time. Her emotional and conscious soul energy penetrates into the most unreachable depths. She sees the bottom of the soul, the inside of the mind.”
DAVID GASPARIAN, Ph. D., literary critic, Head of the Department of Literature at Yerevan State University, 1998.

“The poetical world of Alicia Ghiragossián is one of the exceptional phenomena in modern universal literature. Her words are the condensation of centuries old wisdom of humankind, the interrelationship between the human being and the universe. With a new philosophy, her poems expose the bond between the micro and macro-cosmos.”
AILETA DOLUKHANIAN, Ph. D., philologist, Professor at the Pedagogical Institute of Armenia, head of the Literature Department, 1998.

“Alicia is a phenomenon in Armenian literature. She masters the art to express the inexpressible. Her thoughts and feelings are wonderfully exposed with an incredible immersion in depth, and her metaphors are nothing but exceptional. We are certain that her work will remain among the highest creative archives of the universal literature.”
K.Y. BAGHDASSARIAN, Academician, Rector of the Pedagogical Institute of Armenia, 1998.

“This poet has a multi-essential individuality. The artistry of her creations does not have its equal in our contemporary literature. Perhaps in its meta-dimensionality, she reminds us of a modern-day version of our legendary poet, Naregatsi. Alicia’s poetical thought has wings; it flies.., to the heights and depths of the micro-macro universe.”
GRISH DAVTIAN, Armenian poet, ASBAREZ NEWSPAPER, Los Angeles, USA, 1997.

“The flight of Alicia Ghiragossián’s mind makes the adventure of the supernatural visible, and proves the birth of a New Star in the infinite dimension of poetry.”
EDWARD KHACHIKIAN, member of the National Academy of the Republic of Armenia, 1997.

“Alicia Ghiragossián is one of those rare poets whose voice is singularly resonant and influential, and has made an impact on contemporary poetry. Her work brought a new freshness to Armenian literature, a remarkable transfusion of new blood. Numerous young poets were inspired to follow her path. Hypnotic in its effects, her poetry transports the readers into a metaphysical universe full of mysteries, with unmatched analogies and surprising expressions… This poet has brought about a rebirth, a renaissance in poetry. She is admired and truly loved by all Armenian people."
AZADOUHI KALAIDJIAN SIMONIAN, literature professor at the Lebanese American University, UNIVERSITY PUBLICATION AL-RAIDA N° 76 y 78, Beirut, Lebanon, 1997.

“Her poetry is of the highest virtue and excellence in this century; a work that resembles a gallery of classics. She has the depth of Bach, the temperament of Beethoven, the passion of Chopin, the transcendental messages of Shakespeare, and the geniality to combine the tangible truth of Michelangelo, the transparence of Da Vinci and the dissecting sharpness of Picasso to dive into the multi-layers of the soul. The creation of Ghiragossián is not only nourishment and a source of pride for the Armenian people. Her voice is of universal resonance, and it brings a rich contribution to the cultural destiny of humankind.”
PROF. RAFAEL MATEVOSSIAN, Vice-Rector at Yerevan State University, Armenia, 1997.

“She is totally embodied with the worries, dreams and ideals of the century. The spiritual universe of her poetry belongs to an unconditional love towards the human being, to an unconditional goodness. Her poems are a tool for the readers to know themselves and their possibilities, to know the world, as in them, it palpitates the eternal youth of humankind. Alicia Ghiragossián is a master of the poetical language. Behind her words vibrates such beautiful, mesmerizing and colorful music, which often is not easy to perceive and incorporate, but to feel it in depth is a source of ultimate happiness.”
LARISSA MNATSAGANIAN, Ph. D., Professor of Philology and Literature at Yerevan State University, 1997.

“For decades her poetry has touched the Armenian reader...The hero of her poetry is a very original, universal woman, who levitates ultimate human feelings to a supreme dream, in order to perfect life. She aims to illuminate the ideals and spiritual values of humankind.”
SERGEI ATAPEKIAN, Ph. D., Professor of Philology and Literature at Yerevan State University, 1997.

“The Armenian Philosophical Academy takes pride in supporting Dr. Alicia Ghiragossián as one of the most talented and loved poets of the Armenian Diaspora.” “The subtext of her poetry has a deep philosophical meaning. Her poetry is based on Truth.”
GEORG BRUTIAN, President of the Armenian Philosophical Academy, and SERGEI HAMBARTSUMIAN, President of International Affairs of the Armenian Philosophical Academy, Republic of Armenia, 1996 and 1997.

“Her creations are as national as they are universal. Her lyricism and surprising emotions are blend with an idealistic depth.”
JENIA KALANTARIAN, Ph. D., Professor of Philology and Literature at Yerevan State University, 1997.

“...Highest artistic caliber, be that in content or style... The poetry of Ghiragossián is highlighted by the freshness of her messages and their originality, the universality of her thoughts and feelings, and her unrepeatable and transcendental art of poetizing. For that reason, she has won the admiration of the biggest writers of our time. She is standing next to the most important poets of the century.”
SAMVEL MURADIAN, professor of Philology and Literature at Yerevan State University, 1997.

“Her poetry is needed to seed love, to spread peace in the world, to fight against the hypocrisy of society, to search for truth and values in the human being, and inject cleanness and hope into people’s souls.”
RADIK MARTIROSSIAN, academician, rector at Yerevan State University, 1997.

“Her blend of passion and philosophy is unique, and she transports the reader through the magic of her words, to a wondrous universe full of love, peace and hope.”
ABGAR APINIAN, literary critic, Professor of Literature at Yerevan State University, First Secretary of the Writer’s Union of Armenia, 1997.

“In the poetry of Alicia Ghiragossián, an infinite dimension of the soul is opened, full of a passion for goodness and altruistic dreams. Her work is deservingly considered part of the highest conquest of universal poetry.”
EDWARD CHERBACHIAN, Director of the Institute of Literature, National Academy of the Republic of Armenia, 1997.

“Within the Armenian literature, she is a phenomenon. She possesses the secret of pronouncing the unpronounceable. Her thoughts and emotions are brilliantly expressed, with unmatched density and supremacy in the art of suggestion. Her art creates Beauty and exposes Truth.”
FADEI SARKISSIAN, President of the National Academy of the Republic of Armenia, 1997.

“Ghiragossián is a wonderful poetizer of love. It is that big love which, divided into pieces, becomes motherhood, truth, fatherland. In that process, she discovered that which comes from the depth of the soul and goes towards the entrails, called roots.”
Literary critic DAVID GASPARIAN, Professor at Yerevan State University, REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA NEWSPAPER, Armenia, 1996.

“This miracle daughter of our race, enriched our people and brought them pride and eternity through the philosophical horizons of her poetry.”
GRIGOR AVAKYAN, Member of the National Academy of the Republic of Armenia, 1996.

“Since our student years we have read the creations of Alicia Ghiragossián and we have always felt proud. She truly deserves the highest honors, which not only will belong to her but to all our people.”
BABKEN ARARKTSIAN, chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, 1996.

“Alicia Ghiragossián brought a contagious freshness to Armenia, and she became a source of inspiration for the artists, a sculpture, a painting, a song... Her poetry is that luminous world of dreams where only love reigns as the genius of existence, a love that can be the savior of our planet. The charm and wisdom of her poems transport us to the beyond, from where it is possible to see the immaculate existence of humankind in the centuries to come.”
GIOCONDA MIRZAKHANIAN, editor of NEW HORIZON MAGAZINE, Stockholm, Sweden, 1996.

“I am well aware of the genius of Alicia Ghiragossián. She has her place in the history of our poetry beside our greatest names. Her new work in Armenian opens the doors to totally new searches, new depths. I was especially touched by the mystic and cosmic verses that took me to new revelations. A mysterious world - created by blending the human and the divine - unveils new and rich levels in the universe of poetry.”
HRACH TAMRAZIAN, poet, writer, Minister of Information of the Republic of Armenia, 1996.

“The literary language cultivated by Alicia Ghiragossián, is a pure and living fountain from which many generations will drink for thousands of years.”
GRETA GASPARIAN, Armenian art critic, USA, 1994.

“Many young Armenian writers followed Alicia’s style and spirit. I consider her to be one of the cultivators of universal literature, and myself, one of her followers.”
ARDASHES HUNANIAN, Armenian laureate painter, USA, 1994.

“Her work is full of a spiritual, infinite love towards her ancestors. The whole Armenian world admires her uniquely deep, philosophical and emotional poetry.”
LEVON TER PETROSSIAN, President of the Republic of Armenia, 1994.

“The poetry of Alicia Ghiragossián has a built-in spell which comes to confirm the understanding that poetry is the highest point of a language. Her words are emitted with an arsenal of truth, which come from the depth of the centuries, and go with power to the infinite. Ghiragossián is the spiritual knight who has a date with human rights, with justice. And she writes with meta-dimensional measures, knowing she has been chosen to be handed the heavenly art of poetizing, even within the wordless spaces of the verse. A poetical dynasty.”
ARDASHES GHAZARIAN, poet, REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA NEWSPAPER, Armenia, 1994.

“The feelings emerge with such rich style and mystical-philosophical conception in her Love in Buenos Aires dialogued story-poems, that they affirm once more that talented poet Alicia Ghiragossián is an autotype and essential creator.”
NAHABED MELKONIAN, Armenian writer, Los Angeles, USA, 1993.

“Each volume of your Khoran (Altar) reaches - with its depth - the sanctity of writing and the art of poetizing, with the veneration of a ceremonial priest... To read your books was an experience like that of entering into a gallery of classic paintings.”
HAGOP ASADOURIAN, Armenian writer, New Jersey, USA, 1993.

“An extraordinary phenomenon. For a moment you believe Grigor Naregatsi is talking to you from his 900-year distance.”
VARTKES MIKAELIAN, member of the National Academy of the Republic of Armenia, 1992.

“For Armenian modern poetry, the existence of Alicia Ghiragossián has become a necessary, vital reality.” “At present, she is part of the millenary Armenian lyricism and the inheritor of Naregatsi, Charents and Sevag.”
DR. AILETA DOLUKHANIAN, philologist, Professor at the Pedagogical Institute of Armenia, head of the Literature Department, 1992 and 1997.

“Alicia Ghiragossián’s poetry is the ultimate food for the soul… With her mission of peace, love and art, the world could only become a better place if we allow the seeds of her poetry to be implanted in the hearts of the people.”
DR. MARIA PAEZ DE RUIZ, literature professor at Southwest Texas State University, USA, 1992.

“Alicia is an unmatched poet, who writes admirably in Armenian.”
HRACHIA HOVANESIAN, poet, former President of the Union of Writers, Armenia, 1992.

“Poems which do not have their pair in our rich and secular Armenian chants. In our path of centuries, they are the birth of a new era, a new way of expressing your being...” “There is an enchantment of prayer, mystery and ceremony of a ritual in Alicia’s poetry, an unknown force. It expresses the oversensitive pulse of the time and registers the most subtle movement of the cell.” “From which orbits, which planets sounds the voice of this girl who enchants us? The pain of her people echoes with such power that I am surprised how she can detect, from the distance, our emotions, our hopelessness, our protests, and condense them into her wonderful poems, which bring honor to every poet, every true Armenian.”
SILVA GABOUDIKIAN, Armenian poet laureate, Armenia, 1976 and 1992.

“With her vital philosophy and original style, the creation of Alicia Ghiragossián is a remarkable phenomenon in the 20th century history of world poetry. She is a living legend for the Armenian people. No doubt, her poetry will remain in the centuries to come, for the intellectual, spiritual and artistic joy of humankind.”
ASHOT ALEXANIAN, Director of the National Museum of Art and Literature of Armenia, 1992.

“In her poetry, tradition and modernism are in harmony...with the aesthetics of the 20th century.”
PROF. NORAIR ARAKELIAN, President of Yerevan State University, Armenia, 1992.

“Alicia Ghiragossián is one of the most talented poets of the Diaspora...”
GEORGE BAGHDASSARIAN, Deputy President of the Committee for Cultural Relations with Armenians Abroad, Armenia, 1992.

“A miracle poetry.”
SARA REBOUL, Argentine poet, Brazil, 1988.

“Today’s most loved poet of Armenia.”
ARAMAIS SAHAGIAN, Chief editor of VOZNI MAGAZINE, Yerevan, Armenia, 1987.

“In her art, kindness is seeded in the root of beauty through a delicate style. Her voice of the earth is a scream, a message of light.”
SARKIS HARUTYUNIAN, KARUN ARMENIAN LITERARY MAGAZINE, Armenia, 1987.

“Your poetry is a pagan temple where one enters praying with God. The voice of your Altar has captivated us all. Every verse is a sacred cross-stone.”
HRACH MATEVOSIAN, aka Vahakn Hrachian, journalist, Armenia, 1986.

“She is a tribute to her people, in particular, and to humanity, in general.”
PROF. M. ARZOUMANIAN, Director of the Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia, Armenia, 1985.

“Alicia Ghiragossián’s accomplishments are such that she has conquered her rightful place in the Armenian and international literature. Her work is the bridge between the Diaspora and Armenia, and between Armenia and the Spanish world. This has given her poetry a unique character and is a tribute to the Armenian people.”
JACK GARABENTS, laureate Armenian writer, USA, 1985.

“The string of her poetry is her humanity. She succeeds in deifying the human and humanizing the godly.”
VARUYAN ADJEMIAN, Armenian writer, Argentina, 1985.

“Truly, Alicia became an extraordinary phenomenon. Her rich talent and artistic appeal reached many languages and enriched many cultures.”
MEGUERDICH HACYAN, Armenian poet, writer, critic, Mexico, 1985.

“She is undoubtedly one of the most prominent of the present Armenian poets.”
TOROS TORANIAN, Armenian writer, Syria, 1985.

“Those who love poetry love Alicia, who has reborn in her Armenian poems to assuage the deep pain of her own people.”
ZAHRAD, Armenian poet, Turkey, 1985.

“Her poetry is a phenomenon within the universal literature. Her new approach, new conceptions, structure, weight, show the depth and specially the life of a rich inner world.”
VARTAN ZORENTS, Armenian writer and journalist, Lebanon, 1985.

“As an electrical current, her depurated verses shake us with a brilliant light. Peter Love is a book of unbelievable vitality with a unity that amazes and touches. It is the best example of a unique metadimensional experience reached by the author and the reader.”
MARGARITA PONCE, Professor at the San Diego State University, USA, 1985.

“Alicia is remarkable within the Universal Poetry where she is sealed with indisputable success.”
PHAEDRA ZAMBATHA, Greek poet laureate, Hellenic Union of writers, Greece, 1985.

“You succeeded in communicating to your readers the spiritual and national treasures of our people.”
HIS HOLINESS VAZKEN I, Catholicos of all Armenians, Armenia, 1985.

“A comet, which silently slides through a clean celestial vault, leaving its light behind. When talent joints fortune, miracles are born.”
CHAHANTOUKHD, Armenian writer and journalist, Lebanon, 1985.

“In that closeness where she reaches the image of God, there is something more than aesthetics, there is an encounter with the transcendental world. A strange braveness and a novelty in the poetical discovery... Hers is an original, authentic and - above all - a necessary voice. Her word has the essentiality of poetry. A poetical reality of the very first class.”
JOSE GARCIA NIETO, laureate poet, member of the Royal Spanish Academy, Spain, 1985.

“Alicia has the exceptional talent that knows how to express - with unrepeatable innovation and originality - all that she feels, thinks and lives.”
ASADOUR GUZELIAN, Armenian writer, journalist, London, England, 1985.

“Through the lights and harmony of her poems one discovers the hidden, sacred passages to the heart of a universe ablaze with cleansing fires and richly endowed with the noblest desires of human soul.”
ALEXANDER KLUDJIAN, Armenian poet, USA, 1985.

“Alicia really became an unusual phenomenon. Her rich talent and the enchantment of her art reach the fertile furrows of all languages and all cultures.”
ANTRANIK ANTREASSIAN, Armenian novelist and journalist, USA, 1985.

“Today it is possible to assert with conviction, that all she has done and all she continues to do, belong to that superior level which has the strength to justify and immortalize her.”
SEIRANUHI KEGHAMIAN, Armenian journalist, THE VOICE OF THE FATHERLAND NEWSPAPER, Yerevan, Armenia, 1985.

“One can sense you are not lying, you are writing the truth.”
JORGE LUIS BORGES, Argentine candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1984.

“Her work has an irresistible seduction which arises from mystery and philosophical depth, as well as from the fine feminine perception of her inner world, especially in her poems of motherhood. Talented embodiment of poetry. The Armenian language is rich in superlatives: attractive, admirable, alluring, mesmerizing, etc. Add up all of them to describe that creative work”.
FREDERIC FEYDIT, Professor at the University of Sorbonne, Paris, France, 1984.

“The work of Alicia Ghiragossián belongs to the serious literature and is destined for posterity.”
DR. ODON BETANZOS PALACIOS, Director of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language at New York, 1983.

“An exceptional phenomenon. A pen that brings honor to her generation.”
ANTRANIK TZARUKIAN, laureate Armenian writer, France, 1983.

“One gets surprised that words can bear such an uncontrollable force under the sensitive pen of the poet. One gets surprised that such profound and - at the same time - sublime feelings can be expressed by common words when they come together. When we finish reading her anthology, we cannot help to reassure: “...And poetry never had such a miraculous form...”
DR. AVEDIS YAPUDJIAN, Armenian historian, AREV newspaper, Egypt, 1982.

“Alicia is one of the pioneers of the vanguard poetry in Argentina. She is an innovator.” “Her motherhood poems are an eternal backing to the Hispanic literature.”
OTHON CASTILLO, laureate Ecuadorian writer, LA OPINION newspaper Los Angeles, USA, 1979 and 1981.

“Ghiragossián is a profound, a very profound poet. Once you read her, you want to read her again, and that is invaluable for a poet.”
HOVANNES SHIRAZ, one of the greatest Armenian poets of the century, Armenia, 1980.

“A language of extreme density to express strong and, at the same time, soft feelings or very profound emotions. She has the gift to transcend the surrealistic world and reach the metaphysical one, which is rooted in her being.”
ROUBEN MELIK, poet laureate, France, 1980.

“About Alicia, God has expressed His opinion. He has given her in huge amounts. She is one of the most talented poets of Armenia and the Diaspora.” “For almost three decades we have enjoyed your poetry, an indisputable treasure in the Armenian literature.”
KEVORK EMIN, poet laureate, President of the P.E.N. Center, Armenia, 1980 and 1996.

“Alicia Ghiragossián is today’s greatest poet, the most selected within our poetical reality. She is our flag, the essence of poetry, the wonder, the primate.”
SERO KHANZATIAN, laureate Armenian writer, Armenia, 1980.

“We can place her among those poets of the 20th. century who have the quality to be ahead of their time. The universal value of her poetry is a motive of pride for the race from which she descends: the Armenian.” “An imagination that goes beyond the known dimensions to dive in the essence of depth. During 35 years, A.G., renewing the essence of poetry with a breath of fresh air, with her singular creation, the profoundness of her feelings, the confessions of her truths, and her expressions of today’s man in his poetical-emotional world, has become the creator of “the good times,” as Prevert said, in the national poetry as well as the international.”
BEBO SIMONIAN, Armenian poet, ARARAT NEWSPAPER/public letter, Lebanon, 1980 and 1985.

“To me, Alicia Ghiragossián is the highest peak of our poetry.”
SIRVART MESROBIAN, laureate Armenian actress, Armenia, 1980.

“It seems to me that many of our poets would have liked to have written Alicia’s Letter To Armenia. Unseen emotions, philosophy, everything is condensed there. If she did not write any more after that letter, not even a single verse, that one poem alone would have been enough for her to stay in our literature.”
VARTKES HAMAZASPIAN, President of the Committee for Cultural Relations with Armenians Abroad and former Secretary of the Armenian Union of Writers, Yerevan, Armenia, 1980.

“Her revelation in our celestial vault, was the revelation of a beautiful, bright star. Each exclamation, thought, line, letter, are authentic and precious to me. Our people are prone to give birth to geniuses. Such a miraculous representative is our Alicia Ghiragossián.” “Alicia’s poems are exceptional. They are fresh, interesting, humanistic and at the same time so nationalistic. Deep, meaningful, original, whether translations or written in Armenian. They are wonderful poems.” “The appearance of Alicia belongs to the best days of our history. Every one of her words is poetry. Lively, powerful, beautiful, meaningful... A miracle. She is our pride and I thank her for it.”
MARO MARKARIAN, poet laureate, Armenia, 1980, 1986 and 1992.

“One is more unexpected than the other. The subtly weaved, dazzling metaphors of Alicia, renew human nostalgia and confession. They awaken the cells of emotion and thought, they project them to the highest orbits, they connect them with the unknown and takes one’s being on the journey towards the sanctified belonging to eternal values.”
ASHOT OHANIAN, Director of the National Museum of Art and Literature of Armenia, 1979.

“Beautiful, beautiful poetry... Great admiration for Alicia Ghiragossián.” WILLIAM SAROYAN, Pulitzer Prize Winner American writer of international fame, 1979.

“We are facing a poetry of essences. No one has exposed ideas in the form of her poetic expressions. Her Letter to Armenia is one work of artistry that is enough to consolidate her fame and assure her name in the history of poetry. This is a chant, a scream, a fervor, a declaration of love, commitment and faith. We are in the company of a great poet.”
OCTAVIO COSTA, Cuban writer and journalist, LA OPINION newspaper, Los Angeles, USA, 1977.

“Poems which do not have their pair in our rich and secular Armenian chants. In our path of centuries, they are the birth of a new era, a new way of expressing your being...” “There is an enchantment of prayer, mystery and ceremony of a ritual in Alicia’s poetry, an unknown force. It expresses the oversensitive pulse of the time and registers the most subtle movement of the cell.” “From which orbits, which planets sounds the voice of this girl who enchants us? The pain of her people echoes with such power that I am surprised how she can detect, from the distance, our emotions, our hopelessness, our protests, and condense them into her wonderful poems, which bring honor to every poet, every true Armenian.”
SILVA GABOUDIKIAN, Armenian poet laureate, Armenia, 1976 and 1992.

“Alicia Ghiragossián is today, the poetry of the future”.
GENTE DE PRENSA MAGAZINE, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1972.

“Your books have impressed me with overpowering light.”
FERMIN ESTRELLA GIJTIERREZ, poet, member of the Argentine Academy of Literature, 1975.Argentina, 1975.

“Color of authentic message, intelligent summation in favor of the treasured values.” ZULMA NUNEZ, laureate Argentine journalist, 1971.

“The mastery with which you have allied the secret breathing of the profound life and the power which mobilizes us, is extraordinary. Rigor, concentration of the language which expresses without hesitation the essential and philosophical dimensions, are present in your book, that has enriched me, and for which I express my deep admiration.”
FERNAND VERHESEN, INTERNATIONAL CENTER OF POETICAL STUDIES, Museum of Literature, Royal Library of Brussels, Belgium, 1971.

“True missal of love liturgy.”
RADIO EXCELSIOR, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1970.

“Alicia’s basic value is in her originality, her uniqueness of thoughts, forms and metaphors. We could say that nobody precedes her...”
ARMEN SEVAN, Armenian writer, ARMENIA daily, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1970.

“Sweet Alicia Ghiragossián, in the name of the Uruguayan poets I am sending you - beautiful poet - our salute full of admiration and affection.”
JUANA DE IBARBOUROU, Uruguayan poet of international fame, 1970.

“The gravity center of her lyrical work is in the metaphysics. Knowledge is for her a norm. Alicia defines the human condition beyond its limitations. Women like her, make the history of the spirit possible.”
JUAN ILARIA, President of the Uruguayan Union of Writers, Uruguay, 1970.

“Alicia Ghiragossián is chosen by the gods. She lives and re-lives the tragic adventure of loving, dying and being reborn till eternity. Perhaps she knows already that she is a conqueror of Death, that’s why she plays with it.”
ALBA ROBALLO, Uruguayan poet, Minister of Culture of Uruguay, 1970.

“Initiated in mysteries, Alicia has received a message, or an inspiration has enlightened her, or a lightening has made her see what she already knew. Beyond the Stage for Heaven is not only a dialogued-poem, but the monologue of an esoteric revelation.”
BERNARDO E. KOREMBLIT, Vice-President of the Argentine Union of Writers, Argentina, 1969.

“Alicia’s diamond-like poems bring depth and emotions to the readers and invite them to philosophical meditation.”
GARO SASSOUNI, Armenian intellectual, PAKIN LITERARY MAGAZINE, Lebanon, 1969.

“I celebrate the light, the affirmation of your Peter Love. I would say that, as he who suffers is alone in the Universe, he who loves is accompanied by the essence of your poems.”
MARIA ALICIA DOMINGUEZ, laureate Argentine writer, 1969.

“Your book - sententious, lyrical, with a new voice ever-flowing with humanity and love - is a universal message.”
ROSA TEJEDA DE THEAUX, President of the Argentine Union of Writers, Villa Maria branch, Cordoba, 1969.

“A symbolism of great power arises from that set of poetical levels from where your fantasy slides. It seems almost impossible that in your radiant youth, you have caved so deep in the problematic human creature, in its involvement with the transcendental values.”
MARIA DELIA G. DE MONTIVEROS, President of the Argentine Union of Writers, San Luis branch, 1969.

“Alicia Ghiragossián perceives with brilliancy the drama of man.”
CESAR ROSALES, poet laureate, Argentina, 1968.

“Originals in its form, the dialogued-poems enclose in themselves not only the emotion toward the mystery of love - in its relation with time and immediate reality - but also the palpitating confrontation with a definite transcendence.”
“CRONICA” NEWSPAPER, Rosario, Argentina, 1969.

“We accept the beautiful, the shocking, the touching and tender, the encompassing and captivating surrender of her poems and the emotional dialogue of Peter Love, a book enriched by the sensitivity inherited by her race.”
ROBERTO TALICE, Argentine writer, President of the General Union of Authors, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1969.

“Immense power of language and very modern focusing of poetry. Sense of rhythm and a remarkable creation of images.”
GILBERTO MENDONCA TELES, poet laureate, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1968.

“Alicia Ghiragossián, a comet, a sun, the good times of poetry.”
JACQUES PREVERT, French poet of international fame, 1968.

“She is like a “medium” that announces messages captured by a very fine sensitivity, rescuing the wealth of true poetry.”
CESAR TIEMPO, LA PRENSA GRAFICA newspaper, El Salvador, 1968.

“With enviable nudity, Alicia’s bribing words sound virgin-like, untouched. It is like the first ray of a new sun going through your body and soul, or like listening to the first word of a human addressing another human.”
SHMAVON TOROSIAN, Armenian literary critic, SOVIET LITERATURE MAGAZINE. Armenia, 1968.

“Alicia Ghiragossián knows what she wants; knows what she says; knows what she does. Authentic sensitivity. She has the capacity to transform the appearances into symbols.”
ESTAFETA LITERARIA MAGAZINE, Spain, 1968.

“As One Day Five Voices was for me an unusual and exotic book in the landscape of our poetry, Being and Punctuation is for me the finished testimony of a unique personality. Her book comes to pulverize the whole existential platform.” “A.G. perfects the perfection with that wisdom which cannot be acquired in the academies. She attains to define the indefinable, that magical and malleable substance with which Poetry and Death are made. Peter Love is an exceptional work in the poetry of our time.”
CESAR TIEMPO, laureate Argentine writer, President of the General Union of Authors, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1967 and 1969.

“Unquestionable verbal economy, great power of suggestion and lyrical richness. With refined intelligence, Alicia Ghiragossián makes hers the concrete image of the intangible elements existing in the poetical world.”
REVIEW OF THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF THE LITTORAL, NORMA PEREZ MARTIN, Argentine writer, Santa Fe, Argentina, 1967.

“Her word penetrates in that space of the senses and the mind reserved for high feelings and ideas. A deep and rich world in its essentials, expressed with the style of the 20th. Century, with the anguishing rhythm of the present time. Her work is an opening to all the mystery and magic hidden in the soul, exposing the most subtle vibrations, strangely in harmony with the unreachable.”
VAHAKN TAVTIAN, poet laureate, Armenia, 1967.

“Original personality. Mind and feelings chained in an unforced simplicity. Alicia Ghiragossián - more than a human being - is a flame of emotion.”
PROF. ROUBEN ZARIAN, laureate Armenian writer, President of the Institute of Art at Yerevan, Armenia, 1967.

“Transparent poetry and direct sense toward the possibility of God’s existence.”
JULIO ARISTIDES, Argentine poet laureate, 1967.

“Alicia Ghiragossián locks in the synthesis and balance of her words, the supreme game of life and death facing the cosmos. A renewed language, a different rhythm, a fullness of conscience give her the right to be placed at the vanguard of the Southamerican poetry.”
LA VOZ DEL INTERIOR NEWSPAPER, Cordoba, Argentina, 1967.

“I dare to predict that her voice will reach universal resonance, for the beauty and the abysmal depth of her ideas, of her announcements and silences, for the power of synthesis of the cosmic essences.”
JORGE MAIZ CASAS, Argentine poet, 1967.

“Alicia Ghiragossián is a true creator. Her expressive richness and the conciseness to use the language surprise and enchant us. Amazing metaphors, suggestive antithesis, fantastic analogies are the instrument of the great poetry, instruments which she handles with miraculous freshness and beauty, and forces the reader to confess to Nothingness and Death.”
BRANDAN CARAFFA, Argentine poet, 1967.

“Only a great poet can write what she writes.” “Without any doubt, Alicia is a great talent.”
BARUYR SEVAG, one of the greatest Armenian poets of the century. Armenia, 1967.

“Poetical caliber, lyrical halo, thrilling chant, suggestive message.”
TOMAS DIEGO BERNARD Jr, President of the Argentine Union of Writers, La Plata branch, 1967.

One Day Five Voices reveals a firm poetical personality, vibrant and open to every vital emotion.”
EDUARDO DE LA RICA, Director of EL MOLINO DE PAPEL POETRY MAGAZINE, Spain, 1966.

“The mysticism and the inner route, the recreation of magical worlds and the search for the old innocence are always present in her verses.”
CLARIN NEWSPAPER, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1966.

“In Alicia Ghiragossián’s poetry floats the mystery of her exquisite sensitivity-”
EXTRA WEEKLY MAGAZINE, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1966.

“Naked, beautifully, she gives us the moment of evolution expressed by the inner world, facing the profound mysteries adhered to passion and faith. Magical, unbreakable verses.”
VICTOR SAIZ, Argentine writer, director of FICCION MAGAZINE, Argentina, 1966.

“Extraordinary temperamental richness... Her work has a virtue that I dare to call transcendental, because there is an authentic poetical and stylistic voice.” “Vibrant and with a rare confidence that emanates from what she says so precisely, she is installed in the back rooms of God, Love and Universe.”
ULYSES PETIT DE MURAT, poet laureate, President of the Argentine Union of Writers, Argentina, 1966 and 1969.

Poems

LOVE

I received love
with open arms – my Lord
and they remained open.

Open arms
are the prologue of a hug.

Open arms
are the sign of freedom

but they are also the design
of a hurting Christ.

• 
  

Love is not only
a chemical formulation
where the attraction occurs
in the rhythm of the blood
where two in discipline
survive
in their own substance.
It is the alchemy
of a miracle
where souls fuse
in the encounter.

It is you and I
beyond a plural
touching a time
without boundaries.

It is a universe
of a huge us.

• 
  

True love
does not allow interruptions.

How can welded souls
be separated
when they have lost
their own shape
in the fusion?

• 
  

Do not detach from me.
The loves that vanish
are not true love
but mirages.
The love that is
never stops being.

I am your first love
and the last
and the ones in between.

I am all the women
whenever you loved
and every time you will.

I am
love itself.

• 
  

Tonight I could love forever.

I could cross the universe
mounted on the frequency
of the wildest dreams.

Tonight I could unlock my chains
create a soulmate
with the endless energy
of those who pray
and I could travel through matter
bless the earth
and build a new crown
for magic.

Tonight
I have conquered death.

• 
  

MOTHERHOOD

You do not have life yet
and you bring me life.

You are in the passage
of the beginning
illuminating me
from your shadows.

And although
you do not have a name
you are not anonymous for me.

You are my child
and that is enough.

• 
  

Without knowing you
I recognize you
without touching you
I embrace you.

You are the voice
announced
in my life chart.

People think
I give you life
but we both know
we give birth
to each other.

I
the child
you
the mother.

You are
the incarnated miracle
that will transform me
into a mother….

My child.
Coming from impossible dreams

you are in me
and yet
I am waiting for you.

• 
  

…Maybe others
will not remember me
but your cells
will never forget
they were part of mine
a bonded substance
of matter and love.

The day I depart
do not believe in my absence.
I will be in the dreams
that will nourish
your sleep….

I wanted to offer you
the kind of childhood
and happiness
that was stolen from me.

If I failed
try to forgive me.
The last word is yours.

But remember always
that my love for you
will be your shelter forever.

Beyond words.

Beyond life.

Beyond death.

• 
  

GOD

…And God
entered my bedroom
without slippers
engraving the message
with divine footprints.

We became friends
at a glance.

God already knew my soul
and could recognize
the scars from hurricanes
on my back.
And He wished to make justice
in secret – for the moment –
entering quietly.
Without a whisper.

…God was barefoot.
…And I rearranged my bedroom.

• 
  

…Prayers that remain unanswered
do hurt me.
How are Yours
my Lord?
To whom do You pray?

• 
  

Now
I’m asking You to listen
God.
You
who are the beyond
of the most remote beyond….
You
who let us perceive
the atoms of Your light…
allow me this irreverence
this interview
with the appearance
of a monologue
with several voices
or a questionnaire
or a complaint
or a simple imploration
with refracted answers
which I dare to conceive
in my abysmal solitude.

You
who shape infinity
and schedule
our finite lives
help us detect
the origin of truth.
Invade our beings
with its essence
so we can reject
the ancestors of evil.

I will send my voice
to Your universe
and I will wait for the sign
of Your final answer.

• 
  

MYSTERIES OF EXISTENCE

…And what is life
if not an endless monologue
walking toward death?

…And what is death
if not and equally
endless monologue
imitating life?

…And the carrousel
of existence
repeats its senseless
rotation.

But is it truly senseless
when two souls can share
an unshareable loneliness?

• 
  

What is the mystery
of eternity
that it can be locked
in a minute of waiting
a second of absence
a split second of need?
How can time stretch
endlessly
when existence burns
with nonexistence?
How many eternities
have I still to fold up
and put aside
until I see you?
Where are you?

• 
  

Sometimes I am bothered
by those words
I do not pronounce
because after a long wait
they die
and I remain full of dead words.

• 
  

FATHERLAND

I would like to buy
the face of my childhood.
To take it out
of the photo album
of refugees
and draw it identically
in another land
- that of my ancestors –
naked
newly born
from the fires
because in spite
of all the lives
I have lived
I am still not myself.

I would like to wander
through the streets
of that land
pregnant with freedom
where bones
were burst
with gun powder
on a bed of flags.

I would like to touch
that land
to feel my past
in its fragrance
and reclaim
my essence.

Note: This prophetic poem was written some 25 years prior to the 1991 declaration of independence in Armenia.

• 
  

PROPHESY

When silence goes
beyond sound
we shall be revealed.

When space stops
at the idea
and gives form and life to it
we shall accomplish
impossible dreams
we shall be the creators
of light
and shall touch the truth.

• 
  

Everything will change.

When the surprise
surprises itself
the mirrors will resign
from the images…
…A new dawn will announce
the reign
of the unfairly dethroned
and truth
will inaugurate
the always.

• 
  

PEACE QUANTUM

God….
Do not allow the bells
to stop ringing.
Let our word
be dispersed
all over the world.

Let the voice of the suffering
echo through the waves
of the universe
and let the rays
of a different sun
declare without fear:

“Let people
live in freedom.
“Let our people
live in freedom.”

• 
  

I want to seduce the future
mesmerize it
reach the cherished cloud
and share the miracles.

I am craving the reassurance
of a new time
to destroy the crumpled pages
of the past
and add magic
to the wisdom of love
with the sweetest melodies
of harps
to recruit angels
so I can fly with them.

And fly…
And fly…

• 
  

Say “hello” to peace
and the angels will travel
with a new melody
from note to note
leaving their resonance
in every cell
projecting sounds of peace
as a soothing veil
to cover all the wounds
all the pain

to erase the root
of holocausts
massacres
senseless deaths
and restore forever
the crushed reservoirs
of hope on earth.

…And vibe upon vibe
go beyond this galaxy
to gather every being
around a master wish
and sing.

Sing the loudest song
of life
and build up a universe
as the playground
of love.

• 
  

Quotations

Selection from WORDS TO LIVE BY (Selected Quotations)

ABSENSE

You are gone / and I am fading away.

ABSOLUTE

Multiply the speed of perception… / Then you may realize / that beyond the words / we can find a fraction / of the absolute whole.

ACTING

If it does not come / from the truth of the heart / and the mind / then it is acting.

ACTIONS

Actions speak at light speed. / They are plain / heartfelt confessions.

ADMIRATION

Now you know me. / Is your admiration / still alive?

ADVERSITY

A door opened / to the growth of the soul. /

A hand reaching out. /

A tear falling / on the shoulder / of your best friend.

AGONY

We could not create / a larger creed of nothingness / than the subtle point / where my agony / blends with yours.

AMBROSIA

Let me reach one drop / of ambrosia in paradise / exquisite / sensual / to intoxicate my heart / …so a different sun / can generate / the magic of life.

ANGELS

Do not abandon them / with your mistakes. / Angels fly away / when you challenge / their strength.

APPLAUSE

Could I hide / the dents of applause?

APPRECIATION

To appreciate what we have / is the way to keep it.

ART

A creation of sublime beauty. /

Mastery to expose a truth / that touches your heart.

ARTIST

Great designer / of the black and white in life / where you embroidered tears / within humor / and hid messages / within messages.

ASHES

A soul that breathes ashes / will eventually collapse.

ATTITUDE

Our attitude thus becomes the quality of our seed… because intentions are crucial. Intentions guide the energy. We can fool others, but not our subconscious, which is directly connected with the collective subconscious of the universe, according to Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung.

BALANCE

The big secret / is in the balance / because from the sublime / to the ridiculous / there are as many steps / we are willing to take.

BEAUTY

The beauty of a thought / can touch as much / as any other beauty. /

Charmed and captured / by the brilliance of your statement / the radiation of your higher self / the reconditeness of your soul / I enter into ecstasy / fused to beauty.

BEING

I will be because I was. / Or is it that I was and will be / because I am?

BETRAYAL

I keep detailing myself / …discovering and storing a wisdom / …that I will certainly forget / each time I get wounded / every time I face a betrayal / and a tear announces / deception and pain.

BLINDNESS

If those who cannot see / or don’t want to see / or don’t know how to see / are blind / then almost the entire world / lives in constant blindness.

BOOK

I wrote a book. / Did the book / rewrite me?

BREATH

I will infuse you / with my breath / until you crystallize.

CANDLE

All the forces join / in the burning wick / and I can always / forget fear / shrink pain / shape a wish / or cast a spell.

CANDLELIGHT

Candlelight / is the closest mate / to dialogue with yourself / and enter the meaning / of silence.

CHILD

The child will grow. / Will the child within / grow as well?

CHOICE

When I chose a flower / Am I rejecting the others?

CIRCUMSTANCES

The circumstances changed / and he reached success. / Is it time for his true essence / to be revealed?

CLOSENESS

There is closeness / in sharing tears.

COURAGE

The courage of living / starts when we have accepted / and conquered / our death.

CREATION

Today I cannot fly. / Can I create?

CREATOR

A true creator creates. / A parasite copies.

CRYING

Could one tear lock in / all the pain of the world?

DANCE

Dance with your heart / and you will feel like flying / on solid ground.

DANGER

I discovered his weakness. / Am I in danger?

DARKNESS

Darkness / is the perfect transparence / to discover light.

DEATH

...And what is death / if not an endless monologue / imitating life?

DEFINITION

Whatever is defined / is changed / by the same process / of definition.

DELIRIUM

And delirium was baptized / with another name / when the impossible became / a form of justice.

DEPARTURE

I am detached from my body / and yet exist / I am saying good-bye / and creating a togetherness / that transcends time. /

I am saying good-bye / and hello... / forever.

DEPTH

Depth / going all the way / to the bottom / of the ocean / so we can discover / a different time / on melted clocks / and a praying saint / in the flame / of a candle.

DESIRE

I do not want / that which I am supposed / to want. / My desires go beyond / the written norms / to reach the impossible.

DESTINY

We go parallel / to my destiny. / Will we ever touch it?

DETEST

It does not surprise me / to be detested by those / who would love to fly / with my wings.

DIFFERENT

I am different. / Am I just nobody? / A chosen one? / Or did God make us / all differently?

DISSECT

When they dissect my soul / beyond my words / can they reach the dimension / where the visible of the invisible / hides?

DIVINITY

Touch heights / and you will touch divinity. / You will firmly perceive / the presence of God.

DNA

Love obsession. / Could it be registered / in the genetic code / of the soul?

DREAM

So many times / to achieve dreams / you must break / other dreams.

DREAMDUST

Over and over again / we are bewitched / by dreamdust / and we walk / into the footsteps / of hope / to touch the outlines / of the soul.

DUTY

I do what I must. / is the choice my freedom / or my slavery? /

ECSTASY

We join in ecstasy / far from the world / at the highest peak / of the unreachable.

ENEMIES

My struggle is feverish. / Could my success / be the reward / for having enemies?

ENGINE

Your love was / that essential engine / to helium-fill my heart / so as to fly / with all the colorful kites / until it rests on a cloud.

ESCAPE

I have to escape / to fuse my own self / with the accords / of purity and truth.

ETERNITY

Eternity is the beginning / of a beyond / somehow accomplished / already.

EYES

I have dreamt all my life / with your eyes / so every time / I look myself in them / I become the reflection / of my deepest dream.

FACE

Angel face. / Satanic mask?

FAITH

Faith is a prayer / dancing its way / to the dream.

FAME

Fame and danger / and envy / and intrusion / and loneliness / go hand in hand.

FATE

Are you the blueprint of fate / …speaking with the language / of the gods?

FEAR

The fear of death / - that lives long - / is more mortal than death / that is short-lived.

FEELINGS

There is a rising light / in the vault of your soul / when feelings go deeper / with a flashlight.

FLOWER

Vulnerable as a flower / is your heart / do not place it / in the hands of a stranger.

FLYING

When I fly / I forget the mechanisms / of walking.

FOOTPRINTS

...And God / entered my bedroom / without slippers / engraving the message / with divine footprints. / …God was barefoot. / …And I rearranged my bedroom.

FOOTSTEPS

We leave our footsteps / on the road. / Can we recognize them / on our way back?

FOREVER

Forever is not a / measure in time. / It’s just an experience.

FORGIVENESS

Not to forgive is equivalent / to not forgiving yourself. / When you forgive / you enjoy the gift of peace / from heaven.

FREEDOM

I have wings in my dreams. / Am I free / only when I dream?

FRIENDS

Up to what point / do your friends know / about the hidden tear?

FRIENDSHIP

…And what is friendship / if not a hug / of pure feelings / high understanding / and unconditional loyalty / tied up with love?

FUTURE

I am walking / towards the future. / Will the past / intrude in my steps?

GENEROSITY

Today’s generosity / is that they only give you / what you take. / And all that is available / is a giant nausea / that misshapes the senses.

GENIUS

When the people recognize / the genius / memory is all there is.

GLORY

…Glory can be / drunkenness and deception / a vain illusion / armed against you.

GOD

Prayers that remain unanswered / do hurt me. / How are Yours, my Lord? / To whom do You pray?

GREATNESS

We are all affected / by greatness / no matter / at which side of the road / we stand.

HAIR

I brushed my hair / to remove the echo / of meaningless words / and deafening chatter.

HAPPINESS

When I am happy / I am on a cloud. / Could I fall when it rains?

HARDNESS

Is hardness / the other side of fear?

HEART

That crazy machine / with its own logic!

HEAVEN

True heaven / is the one you live through / the one You suggest - Lord / the one you see / with the soul.

HEROES

When will the red of their footprints / be from flowers / not blood / from a blazing sun / not a burning wound?

HOMELAND

They sometimes ask me / what a homeland is. / …Can you explain God? / How do you define faith?

HOPE

Warmth and possession of the soul / to inspire action / renewed and renewed constantly / even at the border of the last tear / and further to the last minute / when all tears stop / when heavens are ready to welcome / our unused breath.

HURT

When I hurt others / I hurt myself / and I can’t remember / the energy of rising.

IDEAL

How long / does the challenge of the ideal last?

IDENTITY

I am searching / for my identity. / could I get lost / in the crowd? /

ILLUSION

Loyalty to illusion / was a way to search / for truth / a way to be authentic / to be myself.

IMAGE

I take a deep breath / and with the oxygen inhaled / your image enters / into my lungs.

IMAGINATION

Sweet cradle / where everything starts. / Reality or abstraction / life or dream / flight or burial. / Door to all truth.

IMMORTALITY

You leave / to crystallize your existence. / Death is for those / who never existed.

INFINITE

I feel that the soul / precedes my prayer / and travels / from the cell to the atom / then to the quanta / and beyond / toward an encounter / with infinity / to reach that point / where all the infinities join / from micro / to macro dimensions.

INSPIRATION

I traveled / through a secret tunnel / until I met the sun.

INVASION

I am invaded / by your love. / I feel it bursting / in each particle / of my being.

JEALOUSY

All the ears remain closed / to the success of others. / The entire earth / becomes deaf.

JUSTICE

No judge can repair / a wounded justice.

KARMA

…Karma-guilt-existence / and death and destiny / and rebirth again. / … / And my conscience grows / to become a judge / to impose repentance / to claim indemnity / and love.

LABYRINTHS

I feel lost. / Am I in a labyrinth / or is the labyrinth / within me?

LANGUAGE

What is the language / beyond alphabets / we are using / to communicate?

LIE

Do those who lie / with all sincerity / really need / a different face / to tell the truth?

LIFE

Life. / A permanent rehearsal / for other lives.

LIGHT

Light is only / for those who wish to see.

LONELINESS

And we could not build / a higher tower of loneliness / than the exact center / where your tears / link with mine.

LOVE

Love is the genius / of existence. / The opposite of love / is not just dis-love / but death itself.

LOVE AND PEACE

Love and Peace belong to the realm of the divine, that same divinity which rests in the core of existence, and since we are part of existence, they are already in us, built-in our soul DNA, but in a passive, dormant way. We need to be connected to them constantly, to exercise those spiritual muscles so to avoid atrophy. We need to nourish our being to the last molecule with thoughts, feelings and actions to keep them active, thus to understand the true essence and meaning of life.

LOVERS

For how long / does the lover hold / the torch of love?

MAN

He had a name. / Was that his excuse / to be called man?

MEDIOCRE

God. / Shut off / the distorted sound / of the mediocre. / Allow beauty / to impose its melody.

MELODY

On a clear day / the prelude / of the softest melody / was broadcast / from your heart.

MEMORY

You love me. / Do I remember / Who I am?

MIND

My mind is a labyrinth / where kisses and words / are the equation of a glance.

MIRACLE

If miracles / make you believe / could God be involved / in matters of science?

MISFORTUNE

Up and down the staircase of life / we all fall in deep misfortune. / Some of us cannot stand up / others succeed / in spite of their wounds / but only those / who trust in God / can grow above it.

MISSIONS

We are imposed upon / by missions. / Those who cannot see / the inner way / ignore the shapes and hues / of the soul.

MISTAKE

If I make a mistake / but I correct it, / could I reconquer / that corner of the self / that registers beauty?

MODESTY

Modesty and sweetness: / the privilege of the powerful / the mask of the powerless.

MOLDS

I want to break / the old molds. / Will I break myself?

MOTHERHOOD

Soon we will become two / yet neither of us will forget / we were one.

MUD

Here on earth / there is so much mud / on the road / that the steps / become contaminated.

MUSIC

Very much like magic / music places you on a cloud / and gives you a license / to fly.

MYSTERY

The scenes of the dreams / must be unfolded / in the dimension of the cosmos / to break their frames / and penetrate mystery.

NAME

Perhaps I am the reverse / of my name / a sound with no echo / which travels / in the hope to touch / the uninhabited corners / of heaven.

NOTHINGNESS

Eternal time / buried / under forgetfulness.

NOTHINGS

Every death begins / with small destructions / to bring on / the great nothings.

NOW

Now is the secret password / that doesn’t mean / a point in time / but pure existence / on the ground of the eternal / loaded with infinite love.

OPEN ARMS

Open arms / are the prologue of a hug. /

Open arms / are the sign of freedom /

but they are also the design / of a hurting Christ.

OPPOSITES

Day and night. / Love and hatred. / Black and white. / Sorrow and… / We will remember it / one day.

PAIN

We rise through pain / which becomes / the most refined / path.

PARADISE

Building up a paradise / inside you / is the true art of life. / We only hope / no one will spoil it.

PEACE

Peace has lost / its own peace.

PEOPLE

They look so normal… / They go to church / and practice hypocrisy. / They invite you / to parties and burials / as a number. / They buy and sell everything… /

Are we the mistaken ones?

PERFECTION

Those who do not walk / toward perfection / underestimate / the value of life. / Why then / are they afraid of death?

PIT

A bottomless pit / can only be balanced / with a limitless height.

POEM

An alchemic experiment / to transform / feelings and thoughts / into words / paintings / and music.

POET

Is the poet / the earth-bound creature / showing you the cruel world / the dirt / the injustice? / Or the childlike angel / that under the spell of words / takes your hand / to softly lift you to heaven?

POETICAL EXPRESSIONS

True poetical expressions, whether you write them or read them, can help you relax, get into the alpha wave, submerge in the self or be in tune with the beyond to grasp the energy needed to soothe the wounds inflicted by a mistaken world. They can clean, eliminate viruses and cure, because within the context of a poem words have a soul.

POETRY

Dream, flight, madness, truth / riding on the subtle blanks / and silences / of images and sounds / to face you / with the enigmas and revelation / of your inner world.

POWER

Reverence to mundane power / is short lived. / Only the homage to soul power / remains deep and essential / against all winds.

PRAYER

Prayers are always heard / when you mean them. / Patience for their response / builds up faith / and opens the doors of heaven.

PREJUDICE

Prejudices are weeds born from ignorance.

PREMONITION

Every premonition / is a memory / of whatever has already been / decided.

PRESENCE

I sense Your presence / because there is / a substantial whiteness / that penetrates the skin / to melt the inner shadows.

PROMISE

I will wait for you / in the promises / of the unknown.

PROPHESY

Perhaps as a prophesy / it was written in my genes / the intimacy with yours.

QUESTIONS

So many questions / without answers: / life / pain / the universe / And if we had the answers / would wisdom suddenly start / with information?

RACE

Only one race: the human.

RAINBOW

All my tears / - gathered for centuries - / would initiate a rain / for the simple privilege / of becoming your rainbow.

RAPE

Is there a jail / for those / who rape the soul?

REINCARNATION

And all the tears become old / about the age of my emotions / and older / about the age of my grandparents / and my race. / They all come out / with absurdities / loaded with a dark world / with thousands of years / of depth / and weight.

REVELATION

Who am I when I love / if not a biochemical revelation / - the best version of me?

REWIND

My brain / is rewinding itself / constantly / to listen to your words.

RITUAL

Holding hands / …was a unique ritual / to seal the wholeness / of the moment.

ROOTS

I was aware of you / before you discovered / the signs / of your own geography. / … / I was aware of you / to be aware of me.

ROYALTY

Majestic simplicity. / Do we need a certificate / to authenticate / the royalty of the soul?

SADNESS

What is sadness / but a piece of soul / falling down?

SAINTHOOD

You made me bow / before your greatness / until my tears announced / the ritual of purification.

SAYING

I said I will say it. / Did I already say it?

SCULPTURE

The sculpture of my face / does not exist. / It is just a mirage / of the sculpture / locked within me / and refracted in a glance / absent of glances.

SEARCHES

Searches always carry / the seal of pain / and divide eternity.

SELF-RESPECT

If I move away / from my promises / might I like what I see / in the mirror?

SIGNS

I’m going through matter. / I’m being freed and dissolved / behind the signs.

SILENCE

I am silent / and you listen to me. / Could silence have / a secret code for eternity?

SIN

If I recognize my sin / and repent / could I bring to life / what I killed?

SINCERITY

Sincerity has the quality of strength. / You are not even aware of it. / When we open our hearts / we let other hearts in.

SMILES

When two smiles become one / a song is born / and all the wings / of the world / are in flight.

SNEEZE

I sneeze. / Could my secrets / be heard?

SOCIETY

Society is a costume party / and the masks / are almost permanent. / Is it possible to discover / the real selves / when fragments of the masks / are attached forever?

SOLITUDE

We draw a window on the wall / and we paint a sun shining through / and we tend to forget / that some windows do not open / and many suns do not warm.

SOUL

How can welded souls / be separated / when they have lost / their own shape / in the fusion?

SPACE

I feel the space / as perforated sound / and I can hear the melody / traveling on a new road.

SPEED

We will touch the profound / to measure the soul / and prepare / for a new speed / to reach light.

STORMS

We incurably blend / with the storms / hoping / that a reverse lightning bolt / can take us to the sun.

STRENGTH

After each death / A new strength is born.

SUCCESS

Most people think / of a brilliant lime-light / that shows all they have /

while true success hides / in the secret hues / of an unsoiled path.

SUFFERING

You get used to the suffering / hologramed on your cells / although you know by revelation / that every death / gives life to a beginning.

SUN

The first rays of the sun / are as pale as the last ones. / In between / they are as bright and warm / as you want them to be.

SYMPHONY

There is a symphony / concentrated / in each one of the syllables / you pronounce.

TEAR

Is my mirror lying to me / or is it I who cannot believe / that even my tear has become / a perfect square?

TEMPEST

Do not bring me / the tempests which lack / wind and rain. / Those of the soul / are the ones that hurt.

THING

I am vehemently against / becoming a thing / because it interrupts / the internal rhythm / of the universe.

THINKERS

Life is difficult for thinkers, since they cannot follow rules that are against the essence of a pursuit; they cannot adopt nor adapt to common routines that defeat a purpose. They can sense how badly society is organized; how interests govern all the spheres of life, from politics to religions, from smaller scales to world ones.

THOUGHT

I think I am thinking. / Is the thought thinking me?

THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS

Thoughts and feelings are not abstractions; they are pure energy; nothing but invisible matter that becomes the genesis of new roads, illuminated and finally apprehended through words.

TIME

We live the present / but we inhabit / our past / where mutilations / are still alive.

TRAGEDY

Loving the unworthy / life becomes nothing else / but tragedy.

TRUTH

If I speak the truth / would they let me enjoy / my freedom?

UNIQUE

I am part of the whole / which makes me / the whole of the part. / And no matter / what the size of the part is / it is unique.

UNIVERSE

I will send my voice / to Your universe - God / and I will wait for the sign / of Your final answer.

UNKNOWN

I am hearing the music / of the masked unknown / and I can fly on each note / to discover the final world.

US

I disappear from myself / to become us. / … / to be evaporated / in the glance / of the eternal.

VANITY

Last breath. / I can feel the disintegration / of my vanity / and the transformation / of my ego. / I might finally meet / the Great Equalizer / …and I might discover / who I am.

VERACITY

I am not afraid of veracity. / Between fear and hope / the virtue of being direct / is formed.

VERDICT

I am with flesh and bones / within a dream / that comes from the future / and announces to me / Your voice / of final verdicts.

WAND

There are times / that get lost. / There are moments / that remain. / But the magic wand / of the universe / makes everything / purely / supremely / perfectly deathless.

WAR

Those who gave their lives / won the war. / Do they expect us / to win the peace?

WINGS

Your presence / injected wings / into my old desires / pressed down / to the domains / of forgetfulness.

WISDOM

Living. / Dying. / Both brutally difficult / both an art / to be conquered. /

Perhaps wisdom is the tool / to ordain life and death / your best friends. /

WOMEN

I am all the women / whenever you loved / and every time you will. / I am / love itself.

WORDS

…Words have a soul / and they travel straight / to another soul.

WORLD

So, if we want a better world we don’t have a choice but to love each other and live in peace with each other, because the universe is one, and we are one with the universe.

WOUNDS

Your own wounds / will cure you.

WRITING POETRY

Writing poetry is a singular process. Images can materialize in front of my eyes and translate into words, giving me the urge to write, in order to take them out of my system. If I ignore them, they die - as every ignored thing - and I remain full of dead words.

YOUTH

Measure for passion and ideals / to choose who to become / and what to reject / until that moment / when there is no time left / for mistakes.

ZEN

We feel also with the mind / We think also with the heart / and go deep down into silence / to be connected / with that which is.

References

[1] http://www.poetalicia.com

[2] http://www.geocities.com/academyofliteratureofarmenia