Football

Few things—

Only a few things

Bring us closer together, unite us

As much the ball that runs from foot to foot,

Or the 11 pairs of feet

That chase that ball.

And now

Now, as a last hope

We wait for a tough team to come

From some advanced planet in outer space,

So that this great world divided

Becomes one heart, one soul—

Cries and shouts from one mouth—

And moves and works as one,

So that this world—misshapen and fragmented—

Transforms

Into a colossal, colorful ball

With hexagons and pentagons

Big and small…

Zareh Khrakhouni, 1987

Translated by Rupen Janbazian