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Shades of Water, a poem by David Garyan


A Street in the Rain, 2020

Aram Arakelyan

Watercolor on Paper

8-1/4 x 11-3/4 (A4)



Shades of Water


To walk by yourself in the rain, without a destination, is at last how it feels not to be bothered by the whispers inside a crowded library— precisely the one where every book you want has been checked out, perhaps never to be returned, or better yet lost by the librarian herself. It’s a feeling of complete hopelessness and hope— like finding a wooden cup full of gasoline in the forest you wish to burn down, like having an empty glass big enough to contain the ocean but not its waves, so desperate to jump over the edge. When you’re alone, a person might gaze from their window; another may pop their head out the door, and make eye contact just for a second, and even this would be enough if the city wasn’t so big— everyone really is a stranger and those who aren’t point at you like explorers who can no longer walk, but still look at maps of places they’ve never been. How far will you go to find the darkest cup of whiskey tonight? How long will you sleep just to drink the blackest coffee in the morning?


May 2021

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