by Lola Koundakjian, translated by Isabella Jiang

Today my work is found
            in the depths of a museum—to greet
the shadows, the many suns
            & hues within: to sweep
the past aside, as sooted hair, & let
            the fancies pierce
to the fore.

Today my work is to read a book—to turn
            anew,
            again,
such things over in my head: the daily,
            the everyday;
the living & the everyman—to write blue, blue,
            blue,
& so much ocean.

Today my work is to paint—to measure and to cut
            these pages—
to, before the watery scrabble
            and flirt of it,
carry out this brush’s menabar. A self-portrait—
            silhouette—
                       skin—
Today my work is to create.