Tuesday, April 1, 2014



Kendall Merriam was born and raised in Rockland, Maine. He has a history degree from Gordon College in Wenham, MA and graduate studies in military and maritime history at the University of Maine at Orono and Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Conn. He also received grants to study historical research at Colonial Williamsburg and the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Merriam has been widely published, including in Katyn W Literaturze(Katyn in Literature), a Polish anthology of literary works about the WWII Katyn Forest Massacre by 120 international authors, including Czeslaw Milosz. Merriam has written more than twenty books and plays. Most of Merriam’s work has a definite muse – family, friends, and strangers – with life’s larger themes of work, love, loss and death. On April 29, 2010, Merriam was appointed Rockland, Maine’s Inaugural Poet Laureate, an honor from his hometown Merriam cherishes.


A GOOSEDOWN LIFE

                           For Our Cats

 
Until a year ago

our cats were semi-feral

sheltered in their insulated house

but still cold, subject to raids

by other cats, dogs

so we shanghaied them in

frightened at first

they kept under the furniture

and low to the floors

but now he is oblivious to us

she is a bit afraid

but they both sleep now

on our goosedown quilt

in early evening

and in other comfortable places

only going out when it is

above 40 degrees

abundant food, water and Frontline

keep them healthy

they are both striking animals

he wears a tuxedo

her calico patches

make her ready

for any fashion show

we wonder if they will

outlast our span

if they do

we will leave them

an inheritance so they will continue

to live a goosedown life

 
Kendall Merriam, Home, 2/8/14  8:32 PM

Listening to an LP Berlioz “Symphony Fantastique”

 
DAFFODILS IN MARCH

                                          For Inna

 
Just this side of yellow

is a red elephant from India

bearing Irish green shamrocks

do we deserve these gifts of earth

assuming the breakout of war again

Inna has fete’t us with violet cabbage

and tan boiled sausages

can the border be crossed

one way or another

F-16s on the Polish line

the Russians yawning about Crimea

will Spring come in from the cold

no one understands the need for peace

all the Kings challenge each other

people do not remember

the magic four words

written by an old man

many years ago

“People want to live.”

Maybe if we could eat and sip

under the blessing of the brilliant colors

of earth, new war will not come

and we can live to our natural age

 

Kendall Merriam, 3/13/14  7:43 PM at Inna’s apartment

Listening to Inna and Phyllis talking

 
FINNISH MOON

                For Mrs. Viik and all my other Finnish Friends

 
She was my best and favorite teacher

she let me read Shakespeare

for extra credit

I’m sure one of them

was Romeo and Juliet

now there is no more

stone cutting, farming, just teaching

nursing, crime reporting

I also remember Kenny Ilvonen

finishing his degree after the Army

I see a sister or cousin

around town once in a while

I usually don’t say much

Stinging a bit

From never being invited

To sauna parties

Mr. Harjula was my 7th

grade teacher, an escapee

from a P. O. W. camp

he told and retold his story

every Friday afternoon

which I never forgot

and subsequently became

a war poet wishing for peace

my famous Katyn book

has two chapters left out

from the 4 hour writing

marathon at 4 Church Street

one, the possibility of Jews

one, the possibility of Finns

covered by this winter moon.

Kendall Merriam, Home, 3/15/14  8:17 PM

Listening to a C. D. by Fleetwood Mac

 
SPRING MOON—A FRAGMENT

 
                             For all my friends wanting to put

                             Their hands in the fertile earth

 
                             Do you feel the urge

                             To begin planting right now

                             On this chilly March night

                             Not thinking of possible chilblains

                             Just glory

                             In this gorgeous night

                             The year has summed up winter

                             And found it wanting

                             Except for a storm and a half

                             I wonder where all my friends

                             Are watching this schooner of light

                             Scattered across water and earth

                             Some on water, some on mountaintops

                             It is a lovely time for thinking

                             As clouds pass overhead

                             Obscuring, breaking open

                             I flew to China today

                             Before the moon rose over

                             Yellow Crane Tower

                             I saw beautiful women

 
                             Kendall Merriam, Home,  March 2013


 

 

                            

 

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