Keghartby Tatul Sonentz
by Tatul Sonentz
R E Q U I E M
In memory of Hrand Dink
Lord,
king of this
boundless universe
master of all bygone
present and future times
of sin and redemption
conflict and harmony
nativity and demise
righteous judge of
Abel and Cain…
pray hear our
grievance…
Glance back
behold the slaughter
of the endless caravans
of that very first parish
of Your Son’s ministry
of faith hope and charity…
the silenced martyrs of faith
in a crucified Prince of Peace
and his message of peace
on earth and good will
toward men…
Glance back
and behold once more
with Your all-seeing eye
the baptism of the orphans
in the blood of their widowed
mothers felled as burnt offerings
to a jihad of jackals and wolves
on the butchered and charred
bodies of the last of their kin
the children of sacked Eden
land of Noah’s lofty haven —
the sacred mountain where
Your rainbow of harmony
appeared in the heavens
as a solemn promise
of peace…
And behold —
in the city of Constantine
in the muted shadow of
the captive temple of
Your Holy Wisdom
a clear righteous voice
of concord love and justice
is now silenced as a gray wolf
howls at a crescent moon
waning with each shot
in a sky the color of
innocent blood…
Keghart
Keghart