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.
Here are four of the
poems Kendall wrote while he was in Poland recently.
AT
RUBINSTEIN’S
For Mark
Melnicove
Here
6,000 miles
from
home
we
spent 6 hours
traveling
to and from
Auschwitz—Birkenau
thousands
of visitors
to
honor the 1,900,000
of
your family
Phyllis
cried at the hair
I
steeled myself not to
without
a crust
or
sip
I
could feel the stony
pathway
that
so many had trod
in
years I may
comprehend
not
now
Kendall Merriam at
Rubinstein’s Restaurant,
Krakow, Poland
DIE
SPINNE
Here
6,000 miles
from
home
we
spent 6 hours
traveling
to and from
Auschwitz—Birkenau
thousands
of visitors
to
honor the 1,900,000
of
your family
Phyllis
cried at the hair
I
steeled myself not to
without
a crust
or
sip
I
could feel the stony
pathway
that
so many had trod
in
years I may
comprehend
not
now
Kendall
Merriam on the train approaching
Tarnow,
Poland 9/28/13
Listening
to Phyllis, Marta, and Paulina talking
LAST
NIGHT IN HEAVEN
For Joanna
Tomorrow
we leave
To go
back to Maine U.S.A.
A
light meal to help
Us
fly 6,000 kilometers
Back
home
We
have been to five cities
From
Uprising City
To
tiny Tarnoff
Enjoying
them all
Most
of the women
Are
lovely angels
The
men, soldiers of God
Your
face is filled with beauty
Your
service filled
With
kindness
We
walked for hours
With
false directions
But
you called out to us
With
your honest spirit
We
will return if God permits
But
we definitely carry you in our memory
Kendall
Merriam, Krakow 9/30/13 5:08 PM
Listening
to happy guests
THE TENNIS KING
For Henryk
Agile
and slim
He
plays games
I
never could
He is
in love with Einstein
Physics,
time, the stars
His
formulas for life
Are
honored in Poland
Quiet,
attentive, friendly
A
worker with a gentleness
Driving
his Fiat
Without
speed
That
might be to protect
His
cargo of Americans
And
his precious daughter
It is
a family
Of
being simple and complex
But
always working
On
the court, satisfied
Kendall
Merriam, in Tarnof, Poland, 9/28/13
Listening
to table talk across the hall
If you have a comment for Kendall concerning his work,
please email southendstories@aol.com. I will gladly forward it to Kendall.
No comments:
Post a Comment