Canzoni dimenticate

Now available as 4 1/4" by 7" paperback (114 pages). US $12 (includes shipping cost).

Canzoni dimenticate
Alexander Shaumyan
ashaumyan@hotmail.com for purchase
ISBN 1591960479 $10.00 paperback

From first page to last, Shaumyan beguiles with Canzoni dimenticate. (forgotten songs). The introductory sonnet entitled "Darling, because I'm given to extremes..." sets the tone:

Darling, because I'm given to extremes
Of exaltation and the ultimate despair --
A madman torn by outlandish dreams
Obsessed by metaphysics of your hair --
Because I'm an idiot, I think,
To sing these ardent love songs in this town,
Because I think too much, because I drink,
Because I'm just another drunken clown......

"If Ants Could Speak, Would We Listen?" is a humorous title for a succinct rendering of American problems:

If ants could speak, would they tell us that we're
intellectually inferior -- retarded, in fact, by their
standards?

What would we do then? Would we get pissed off and
bomb them or would we agree on a mutual strategic
arms limitation?

Shaumyan often writes of love, and openly explores the painful wounds he suffered in love's name. With two lines in "Eros", we understand why he keeps hoping:
Eros is the winged god, the highest form
of love, and all the passions cower in its presence....

Canzoni dimenticate presents sonnets, prose, musings on love and desire, and scathing political commentary. I'll end the review with an anthem:
America, I sing that you may rise
A newborn country, where the people reign,
And may your spirit soar above the lies
Of those who exploit the others' pain.....

This is the fourth book of Shaumyan's poetry I've read. Each one is different and all are well worth reading.