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.
HEAT
For
Olivia
It has been blistering here
Though I guess
London is worse
But look for more
It is still crossing the Atlantic
I tried to send you a note
About the books you have to read
For your teaching lessons
Throw them away
You have a wonderful passion
For Central Europe and beyond
And a fund of knowledge
Let them shine out
Forget all the rest
In the 7th grade
Our teacher, Mr. Harjula
Every Friday afternoon
The only history I remember
From any public school
Just think how the boys
Will be bowled over by
Your physical beauty
And the girls by your fashion sense
From combat robe to wedding dress
Telling the history of the cultures
That fostered every item
From birth, marriage, to death
Use poetry, drama, short stories
From the world’s wealth of literature
And they will remember your life
Critically important to the world
Kendall Merriam, Home, 7/16/13, 7:55 PM
Listening to the fan above traffic
ICED VODKA
For Olivia
It courses through
My altered brain
I cannot have it
In any sense
Sweet Mirror Lake water
Is what I take
You remind me of that
A natural stimulant
That makes me feel good, alive
After much pain, heartache
I do not know if I will reach you
In Lusowo in September
But you are are already launched
In your career
To bring our mutual sleeping friend
Back to life
In books around the world
In celebrations
That the women of earth
Will call a halt
To the nonsense of war
I think my soul
Cannot match yours
Perhaps having seen less
Of cruelty in the open
But as I drink clear water
Your mind will be on fire
With the spirits of God
You will write a novel
To bring a glass of truth
Kendall Merriam, Home, 4/12/13, 1:24 PM
Listening to “The Best of the Gypsy Kings”.
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