Click to hear the audio clip The Game read by Yeraz Markarian.
When papa was in a good mood
he played hide and seek
with my little brother and me
in grandma's huge orchard in Isfahan.
Sacco hid the best.
Papa, the worst. And I
didn't like to hide at all.
But we were together and it was fun.
We went on playing
as the years went by. One
hid in England, one in America,
and papa stayed counting in Iran.
Then we found each other again
and again we played.
But there was a problem now:
whoever hid, could not be found again. . .
Oh, my most beloved ghosts,
this is your brother, this is your son,
and I'm done counting!
Ready or not, here I come.
Leonardo Alishan (1951-2005)
Leonardo Alishan was born of Armenian parents in Tehran, Iran. He came to the U.S. for graduate studies in 1973 and from 78-97 he taught Persian literature and comparitive literature at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. His poems and stories have been published in a variety of national and international journals and have been the recepient of a number of literary awards. Alishan's first collection, Dancing Barefoot on Broken Glass, appeared in New York in 1991. His second, Through a Dewdrop was published in Glendale, California in 2002. "Tired Thoughts" was awarded the People Before Profits Poetry Prize for 2003.

https://armenian-poetry.blogspot.com/2006/08/leonardo-alishan-game.html