The Journal of Michael Merriam

…all the goddesses will come up to the ripped screen door
and say, what do you want, dear?
and I'll say, I want inside –Ani Defranco

The Gatekeepers gasp, gaze in bewilderment
at blood let from sliced immortal flesh thought
invulnerable, staining robes, tunics, and cloaks.
They look to their lists and scrolls and tablets
spy the dread name, tremble their first.

Soft whisper of paws -
Hint of whiskers -
Flash of whip-like tail –
She has arrived.

Heroes boast brave of grand victories over
demons, dragons, and perils unimaginable
but no mere monsters born of myth
might match the black-furred fury.

Ring bells, sounds trumpets, call the alarm
for she has slipped silent into the green forests of eternity.
Reborn is the hunter, returned is the warrior
and the Gods shall peer into green eyes fierce and cool
and they shall know her name.

The Reverend Selena Xena Merriam 1998 – 2012



*Death, therefore, is nothing to us.