Alexander Shaumyan is a prolific poet and writer, born in Russia and now living and working in America. His work is intelligent, thought provoking, often fueled by politics, passion, and unrequited love.

For those of you who've been betrayed by faithless lovers, Shaumyan speaks for you. His powerful translation of "I Have Been to the Market of Dreams..." by Alessandra Novelli sets the tone:
I have been to the market of dreams
And I saw the sellers of images and words
they called them artists, poets and writers
they were raping the young minds
and traded with the old ones
and for every image sold
another little piece of heart would turn to dog food.

"To a Cynic Who Spends Too Much Time In His Chateau" is pure Shaumyan with no buffers to blunt the loneliness and pain:
I do not know how this story ends,
I weep for him and for his self-made walls
And feel the chill that permeates his soul --
gone all the joy and all the tears too,
I see a man, a lonely man whose view
Of life is hopeless -- there is no sun,
There is no love, no thrill, no fun...

His dreams of honest love have all fallen through. In "Through the Eyes of Love" he minces no words and spares no wound:
What's there left to say -- my youth
is all but gone...Throughout these
years I've seen too many wars
and not enough compassion...
And again in "The World Collapsed", the wounds of love have hardened to a scar that seemingly will never heal:
I dream of love but it is hard to find
Amidst these dreary homes and barren trees
And see the world impersonal and blind --
Devoid of beauty and humanity.

Love and war are addressed with equal passion, perhaps because the poet sees them both as killing fields. "War is Staged Murder" is but one example:
War is staged murder, nothing more,
And all the patriotic whores
Who sing of liberty are dead --
Their shallow lives are filled with dread
Of walking home late at night --