IN RECOGNITION

	by Shushan Avagyan


	I needed fox       Badly I needed
	a vixen for the long time none had come near me. 

	        -- A. Rich, `Fox' (1998)

	I AM fox.
	I come from Silence.
	My triangulated face 
	has ripened in the dark fields of the Republic.
	My burnt-yellow eyes
	have prayed for Midnight Salvage.
	My lacerated skin has dreamt
	of a Common Language.

	I AM vixen.
	I hunt alone.
	I sharpen my teeth 
	on Lies. I bleed in Secrets.
	I only breed My Kind. 


--
Shushan Avagyan was born in Yerevan, Armenia.  She is currently
working on her master's degree in English Literature, and is a
recipient of the Dalkey Archive Press fellowship at the Illinois
State University.