Oh dear Armenians - you whom
Mother America took to her bosom,
helped so many of you to become
rich and powerful...

if the Turks acknowledge the ethnic cleansing
as we call it now, of so many years ago,
when so many erred -

will that assuage your grief? will that
soothe your soul? Must you ask this
of an America not without its own blemishes
in ethnic cleansing, over a longer term...

when the guilty men have long since met their God;
met His justice and his mercy; who - if some
faiths are to be believed - have been reborn
to live out the fruits of their good deeds and their bad...

yes, it is wrong for Turks to bring injustice to today
and say, we'll only help you if you dropp this call
for 'apology, admission' - from whom to whom?

equally wrong, to demand this of the Turks
who today are blameless of their past...
will admission help them too?

Should Adam forever apologise to Eve,
forever, Eve to Adam, and the serpent, thus, to both?

Koha - you the beautiful, who shone behind
the counter there at Macy's - may we look
into each others' eyes, and drink the future's love?

Michael Shepherd

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/armenian-americans-american-armenians/