by Lola Koundakjian, translated by Beth Bayliss

today my task is to go to a museum;
to meet the colours that call it home,
to greet the lights and the shadows:
to forget the past
and to dream of the future.

today my task is to read a book;
to recall an everyday quality
of life and the common man:
to birth poetry and
to build new ideas.

today my task is to paint;
to measure and to cut with care
the pieces of paper
to help the brush perform a perfect menabar –
a coquette blowing kisses
and light words at the water.
a self-portrait:
               a distortion:
                             a mask:
today my task is to create.