Kendall Merriam: Emissions of gas
The Mayor rushes in
when he thinks someone is being critical
and tries to stop the conversation,
citing time restraints, repetition
what he doesn’t acknowledge
that ordinary citizens
may have ideas
equal or superior to his own
where are the “experts” coming from
and who is paying for their “testimony”
why was Rockland chosen
was the Governor’ s hand behind this
Kendall Merriam was born and raised in Rockland. He has a history degree from Gordon College and pursued graduate studies in military and maritime history at the University of Maine at Orono and Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Conn. He 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. Most of Merriam’s work has a definite muse – family, friends, and strangers – with life’s larger themes of work, love, loss and death.
so desperate for some positive economic news
has anybody on the panel
read the news about the misconnection
in the Waterville area
many of which had to be done over
dangerous days
I was born in Knox Hospital
grew up here
and have been back for ten years
I love Rockland, it does not need
a polluting, ugly gas plant
when its beauty and striking harbor
attract visitors from around the world
and provides a haven for artists, photographers
poets and musicians
if the plant is built, I see disaster
as time slips away and care goes with it
I urge my fellow residents
to demand a binding referendum
to keep money men and women
away from our beautiful little seacity
