Kendall Merriam: My Wife Smells Like a Poem
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.
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.
For Phyllis
Here I am old, 80, unstable, faltering
my wife encircles me with her strength
pulls me up
when she does I bury my nose in her pale, white neck
I smell her scent, Poeme
by Lancome of Paris
she is fortunate, she was there a year
with her Army officer father
fresh croissants and wild strawberries
to impress her father
enough for her hand
I enlisted
and courted with transatlantic letters
from Walson and Valley Forge
you see I refused to give my signature away
on a blank piece of paper
beaten and drugged, I didn’t know what to think
how to think
now I can think
sometimes a good poem comes out
impresses a friend, impresses an editor
gets heard, gets published
she helps me, keeping going
and every morning
as she lifts me
that scent, like a poem
lifts my mind and makes me think
that life is worth following
an invisible perfume—Poe’me.
Kendall Merriam, Home, 7/30/2022 10:50 a.m.
Listening to Phyllis typing beside me.
