DO NOT LOVE ME

S. Kurghinian, 1906

Do not love me gently as if
I were a blooming flower in spring,
or blinded by your virility,
burning with desire.

Do not deceive me with illusions,
my soul won't thrive on dreams;
open before me the chasm of life,
show its crimes and wounds to me.

Let me taste the poison of anguish,
courageously, with you;
let me relish freedom, and speak of my mind,
striving for the light of deliverance.

Close to each person's sorrow
I want to bear the same great cross
carried by the rebel folks
toward the universal goal!

From trials let my heart wear down
and throb from never ceasing hardship,
let wrinkles web my youthful face,
traces of this barbaric life.

And when proudly, dressed in rags,
I arrive full of longing to visit you,
kneel to me, cling to my bosom,
plead for my womanly love...

A glowing love that did not hinder
my right to be human, mother and wife,
that always offered solace to my mate
when he was lonesome, in despair.

Do not love me as if I were a flower!
I want to live a worthy life--
as an atom in a mass of troubles
as a child of the street mobs!