More than a decade ago, while heading home from work in Washington, DC on the metro, I heard the unmistakable sound of Armenian being spoken. Since this does not happen every day and as it had never happened before, I
A Ukrainian Thanksgiving
It was dark by the time I arrived in the vicinity of my friend’s home. In my haste I had not looked up the address, and all the neighborhood houses, in the dusk, seemed eerily similar. But I need not
Of Morse and Navajo
Dots and dashes make up The radioman’s code. All languages are ciphers, And jargon the worst, That keep the alien out, Far better than stone walls Or barbed wire can. It’s amazing how mot justes, Wrapped in the right accent,
Haiku: Summer at the Lakeside Grove
Summer at the lakeside grove Crickets and birdsong Overhead a buzzing jet Abie Alexander Greenbelt, Maryland August 26, 2022 © 20770
Le Carré and Jefferson
A friend’s recent Facebook post charmingly insinuated that Thomas Jefferson’s love of books and reading could, in part, be attributed to the absence then of the Internet and other electronic distractions that plague us in our time. Later the same
Cupid and Covid
Cupid and Covid With masks, Vaccination, Distancing, Handwashing, Remote working, And quarantine, We beat Covid – Or so we thought. But the virus still won. Cupid didn’t stand a chance, Even at ten thousand miles … Abie Alexander Greenbelt, Maryland
Dulce et Decorum Est
Call it pareidolia or what you will, but the clouds over my residence this afternoon appeared to be an ominously accurate representation of my horror and intense grief – nothing less – over the events unfolding in Ukraine, especially because
Community Shredding Day
There they stand, in wary lines, Clutching to their hearts, Or in tightly gripped bags, Bank statements, bills, Tax returns, certificates, Credit reports, checks, And even junk mail. But how much more we cling In our innards to biases, Racial
Squandered Water
Vessel balanced atop, Child at the hip, The woman straggles Barefoot for miles each day. At the roadside tap, Their pots in queue, Children squabble, Waiting for the daily dribble. Or heaving at the rope, At the communal well, Feet
On Rereading a Book After Decades
Being under the weather is never a pleasant experience, but one advantage, if it can be called that, is that it magically puts extra time on one’s hands which was never there before. So, when I found myself housebound in