Look how the snow drifts
       flare on the Soracte’s slopes
—there, straining branches

I take meticulous care in noticing the ground
under my feet
as i walk slowly

Jean Vu 
Lived in Paris 
Rue Rimbaud 

We are able to erase the smoke
because of our ability to predict the future
as it were

Now I am married there is much to despair
now that I seem to need to.
By the powers vested in me, I am

Aware of all this mutability, I ask what does not change:
The longing of the heart to know is what I find myself saying.

Then to go there in the dusky
heavy air of that place yet always
carrying in the shielding

You call out again to announce your arrival:
As before, there is no answer.
You stand up, look around, find the kitchen.

Going among the harsh hollows of the water,
The skiff navigates between the crests
And almost is swamped by them. The rower pulls

The word for childish greed
in Armenian is the same
as for an eye with a hole.