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Jeredith Merrin

Jeredith Merrin is the author of two collections of poems, Bat Ode (2001) and Shift (1996), both from the University of Chicago Press. Her criticism includes the book An Enabling Humility: Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop and the Uses of Tradition (Rutgers, 1990). Her poems can be found in The Hudson Review, Ploughshares, Ms., and The Paris Review. She is an emeritus professor at the Ohio State University.

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Poetry Poster #2: Jeredith Merrin

July 6, 2012 | Poetry

This week's poem is by Jeredith Merrin: [Today I went]. This poem is from a sequence of 10-line poems in response to Merrin's daughter's cancer diagnosis. Three poems from Merrin's series appeared in the Spring 2012 issue of VQR: •  [Now, her [...]

Not a Prayer

Spring 2012 | Poetry

One that comes to mind is very old: Ninsun, mother of the hero, beseeches the sun-god that Gilgamesh might go unharmed on his journey to murder the monster— that he be watched over by stars. For this, she selects her best dress, climbs the stairs [...]

[Now, her hair …]

Spring 2012 | Poetry

Now, her hair. Little flurries to brush off her clothing, wet clumps after showering, blocking the drain. Her good husband banters —What do you think, a bonnet?—stalled at the open bathroom door, copping a look at the body he adores. It’s not [...]

[Suddenly—no reason—]

Spring 2012 | Poetry

Suddenly—no reason—a good weekend! It feels, says her e-mail, so good to feel good. Always, a gift for celebration in this child. After the diagnosis, what would you do, what would withdrawing I? She opened her house to the many who phoned, wish [...]

[Today I went]

Spring 2012 | Poetry

Today I went to get the tax forms we needed from the federal building, and the thick, bald, simultaneously smug and envious low-level bureaucrat in his stupid no-color cube told me they didn’t have them: he called them (as if I’d asked for some [...]