For Sandi Hodge

Can you reprimand a messy desk?

it’s difficult with so many new cases

blossoming across the state

you do not want to hurt feelings

but children come first

you think of this as you drive

through snow and ice

you simply cannot afford

to lose any workers

in this challenging, spread out state

are you a judge

you should be in a land of big counties

no public transportation

not a bus or train

just a Japanese vehical slipping

on packed down snow

on a pond near your house

you face it with bravura

what else can you do?

maybe you could hire a jeep

or a Land Rover 

better suited to Lincoln’s Hills

you’ve walked up other hills

here and  there, Italy, Florida

in the face of adversity

she never gives up

grits her teeth, binds up her heart 

and goes forward - like a little dynamo

sometimes she winds up aching

in a hospital or some other curing room

but soon enuf she gets out

to see her three grandchildren

daughter and son-in-law

restoring a house in Alna, Maine

a choice she left behind

but they are young and spry

she’ll wish them well 

and go on helping 

families who need it

giving good advice

with an innate generosity

that helps make Maine

a more secure place to live

Kendall Merriam, 6-3-2022, Home, Listening to Playwrights on TV