Armenian Genocide -100 Years

Coal black sky,

awakens repressed memories.

Whispers of angels silenced.

You are not forgotten,

the moon watched 

while humanity looked away,

one hundred years of denial.

Grandpa,

I stood beside you as a boy,

and as a man I carry you in my heart.

Your kind but dark eyes,

pieced my consciousness with

stories of your plight,

living in a cave,

marching in the desert,

eating weeds and plants.

You were a baby boy orphaned,

grief held your hand.

You were too young to remember

your mother's love

your mother's embrace.

The emptiness,

and the sadness lingered.

The oppressors sought to destroy,

they sought deportation,

humiliation,

death.

The oppressors wished

to erase you

and our bloodline.

One hundred years of denial,

echo like whispers,

reverberate from the earth

of those that perished.

You survived

to flourish

you survived 

to tell your story

the darkness always in the shadows

 of each day.

Grandpa,

I remember.

Grandpa,

your words are not forgotten,

I retell my children of those dark days,

of their legacy,

of survival rich with

honor of your life.

Grandpa,

I stood beside you as a child,

as a man I carry you in my heart.

This is dedicated to my husband and his grandpa, a survivor of the Armenian Genocide. This is dedicated to all the grandchildren and children of the survivors. We must never forget the atrocities committed.