Jen Siraganian
Page 271 from the Glossary of Armenian Terms
Odar
/ˈōdär/ n.
orig. Armenian
1. The other, an outsider, a foreigner.
2. A fading.
3. A disappearance.
4. An animal shape in the sky floating away.
5. A condition when half of your blood is tolerable.
Example: You’re not an odar. You can wear a shirt that says, “the half-Armenian.”
6. A visitation, being a tourist in your skin.
7. A tree half wavering in the sun.
8. A canyon so arid that you abandon hikes.
9. Eyes too blue, skin too dark.
10. An unbuttoning. (See Appendix A).
11. Words with teeth.
12. The act of recognizing your language when the song is not your own.
13. The quality of a shadow wide enough to consume you.
14. But bright enough to rinse you from a photograph.
15. The quality or state of being unheld.
Jen Siraganian reads “Page 271 from the Glossary of Armenian Terms”
Jen Siraganian is an Armenian-American writer, educator, and former Poet Laureate of Los Gatos, California. A graduate of Brown University and University of Arkansas, she has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, awarded a Lucas Arts Fellowship, and profiled in San Francisco Chronicle and The Mercury News. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Best New Poets, AGNI, Prairie Schooner, Southwest Review, Mid-American Review, Smartish Pace, and other journals and anthologies. She has served as Managing Director for Litquake: San Francisco’s Literary Festival and taught literature and creative writing in schools and community settings for twenty years. jensiraganian.com