R.H. Lola Koundakjian
The Moon in the Cusp of My Hand
“You Can Tell Me Anything” opens with an invitation to play a game of underlining and marginalia.
borrow my poetry books,
underline favourite words
with a pencil;
It is a gesture that is recast in a retrospective mode in a poem in honour of Neery Melkonian, “To Nerry”, which recollects what has been passed down:
In the lost pages, French stamps,
postcards neatly typed —
one thanking you for a charming dinner,
another with your neat script — never mailed;
a receipt of books purchased in Boston,
pencil marks underling many words.
I’ve taken the liberty in my copy to _________
And so for day 2798
10.08.2014