Hangman
At that age, I did not understand
the point of sentencing a wordsmith
to death. A slow death—one failed
letter at a time—a moon for a head
because a ventriloquist doesn’t need
a W—a V has no place in Beirut.
D—Q—R—a pencil-thin noose
around the neck—a matchstick
torso—limp hands—another vowel—
wishbone feet spread over a snowy
field soiled by em dash—em dash—
em dash—Below the gallows,
a half-finished word, grinning—
like a dead man with missing teeth:
like mullah Mouhamed, hanged
upside down from electric wires
by his turban—for forgetting
the password at the checkpoint.
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Shahé Mankerian is the principal of St. Gregory Hovsepian School in Pasadena, CA, and the director of mentorship at the International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA). He previously served as co-director of the Los Angeles Writing Project and is a recipient of the Los Angeles Music Center’s BRAVO Award for innovation in arts education. Mankerian’s debut poetry collection, History of Forgetfulness, was published in 2021 by Fly on the Wall Press (UK). The collection was a semifinalist for the Khayrallah Prize and a finalist for the Bibby First Book Competition, the Crab Orchard Poetry Open Competition, the Julie Suk Award, the Quercus Review Press Poetry Book Award, and the White Pine Press Poetry Prize.