Inez Williams: Introduction to the Poems of Armen Kassabian

Armen’s journal-like poems righteously convey his eccentricity. However, under the surface of his unique portrayal of expression in his poems lies a foundation of intimacy and regularity. The body, the colors of nature, the dichotomy of reality: they all play roles in his poems as they relate to an unspoken familiarity with an emotion we call love.
“Ease” portrays the delicate emotional relationship between the poet and “Jess”. The third stanza is where we first notice any mention of an interactive character with the poet. If each stanza is to be its own room, the third stanza is the hallway with which each room is connected. In the first stanza, the poem presents its setting. The second stanza helps us both visualize and question: Where are these children going and with whom? What is on their minds? What is in their hands? What are they talking about? The second stanza leaves open our imaginations to explore what is going on in this world. The children foreshadow the innocence and curious of the poet as he encounters “Jess”. What is so intriguing about “Jess”? Who is she? Why is the author being cautious?
In “Two Lips,” Armen takes us on a step-by-step journey through a particular moment in the day. This poem deals in the subtle existence of normal, human emotions: anticipation, infatuation, rejection. Once again the complex structure of love is presented. However, in “Two Lips,” there is more than the presence of the two people; rather, it is the painting that works as an emotional wedge between the poet and his beloved. With the last five lines of the third stanza, Armen signifies his defeat for as he tries to capture a physically intimate and romantic moment with her, he is rejected and returns home alone. What makes this poem magnificent in its simplicity is that this rejection may not be noticeable to the beloved at all.
Armen does a wonderful job compartmentalizing his stanzas into rooms which work well together or by themselves. With these rooms, he offers us a guide to an eccentric life with his poems as the open house. His poems are constructed similar to a journal that moves our attention to the glistening moments in the everyday life. Enjoy.


Ease

sun sky settles in blue.
REM eyeball half.
eardrum rustles.
against fall concrete.

three children pass, with.
on their lips,
in their hands,
on their brains.
in their voices,

Jess walks too. On her.
I walk to Jess. On my.
legs over hands.
oil spills? Cautious fingers.

I return to green.
mudra hands half.
nose itch.
sun ray pupils, blink.

--Armen Kassabian


Two Lips

“Hello, Armen?”
“Hi, Sarah, I’d love to see you,”
“I’m at the Traina art center, drop by if you’d like to,”
“yea, sure, see you in a moment.”

flying down Florence Freeze, wind brushes frizzy hair into forehead,
2 red pimples emerging, as I ride my red bike.
Wheels stop, lock bike to tree stump, walk into
102, to watch her take her time, thin paint brush
between two beige fingernails, Glazed eyes dissolve
into painting, she can’t see me, but I can see her
lips, they talk to mine, chapped,
luscious, resting a top each other.

After 18 minutes I claim that Home
work Calls. step outside to wait
4 minutes later, she scuttles
off to the women’s bathroom,
I stop her at the door and stutter to myself, try to kiss
her left cheek, but she darts her head
away, I return to my bike,
ride it home
alone again.

---Armen Kassabian