1 Poem by Michael Stone

Eyes Are

Windows into the soul,
eyes are,
looking out from it.

Sky blue some
eyes are,
summer sky is
blue and hard.

The hard sun is like
the reflection
not off silver mercury,
but off burnished bronze,
off shields held by warriors,
off polished ancient swords.

Is this what looks in?
what the soul looks out at?
burnished bronzed light

of curse,
of war.


Bionote

Michael Stone was born in England in 1938. His family moved to Australia in 1941, where he received his schooling, up to the completion of his BA (Hons.) degree in 1960. He lives in Jerusalem with his family. He has published poems in numerous literary journals and ezines as well as translations of medieval Armenian poetry. His poetry has also been anthologized in a number of collections. Three books of his work have been published: Selected Poems, was published by Cyclamens and Swords Press in 2010; Orange Light, Cyclamens and Swords Press, Metulla, 2015; and Armenia Views, Hayastan Press, Yerevan, 2019. A poetic translation of Adamgirk', a medieval Armenian epic about Adam and Eve in 6,000 lines, appeared with Oxford University Press in 2007. Some of his poems have been translated into Armenian and Italian. He is retired from teaching at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.