The Monk

Armenian News Network / Groong
January 22, 2005

⚠ This is an archival article originally published on January 22, 2005. Information may be outdated.

In his monastic veil he seemed to be a black walking mountain. He was serious and used to sleep on a pallet. He didn’t like this-worldly noises and ran away from crowds. He adored pantomime.

…Once I opened my palm and asked him to tell my future. He took my hand and drew to his lips. His look was mysterious and elegiac: ‘I am not a prophet,’ he whispered.

His baritone echoed in the silence of the church. He was profoundly religious and erotic.

Lusine haroyan

Author bio at time of publication

Lusine Haroyan was born in Ararat, Armenia. As an exchange student, she studied in the faculty of Political Science at Bemidji State University, Minnesota. She graduated from the Brussov State Linguistic University in Yerevan, Armenia. Lusine has published two books of poetry 'Let the Flowers Bloom,' 1996 and 'The Legend of Stones,' 2000. Her third collection of poetry 'A Drop of Blood on the Slide of a Microscope' will be published soon. She is the winner of 'Avedic Isahakyan Award' in 1998), the 'Armenian Cultural Fund Award' in 1999, the Armenian Allied Arts Association Award in 2000 and 2002, and the 'Best Student Poet Award' (Third Prize) in 2002. Lusine's poetry has also been published in a variety of anthologies, such as 'Minnesota Women Writers,' in 2000, 'Dust & Fire' Minnesota Writers Anthology, in 2001, 'Best Student Poets in Armenia,' in 2002. Lusine is currently working at the 'Tatev Scientific Educational Complex' in Yerevan, Armenia, and in September she will be leaving for Budapest, Hungary, to study for her Master's Degree at Central European University (faculty of International Relations). She can be reached at lharoyan@yahoo.com