Final Exam

Poetry February 2019 ISBN 978-1-936628-48-3 90 pages Softcover 6"" x 9""

"The poems in Andrew Merton's Final Exam stake out an imaginative territory that's equitably shared by God, Elmer Fudd, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, tubas, pianos and a menagerie of animals. Merton's work is as spare and lethal as grenades, blowing up easy assumptions in favor of something much more incendiary—a truth-telling that's located in the ambiguous, shape-shifting that is this moment's reality."—Sarah Freligh

"Something in the tone of this book reminds me of Szymborska and her gift for turning human delusion and bad behavior into a life that can be forgiven because it's simply human."—David Rivard;

faith

From the Book

Proposal

In a past life I was a dung beetle
in Macedonia, feasting on the leavings
of the great Bucephalus.
Not a care in the world
until a crow ate me.
Will you marry me?

Two thousand years later
I was a rat feasting on caviar
in the first class galley
of the Titanic.
It was great while it lasted.
Will you marry me?

My most recent reincarnations were cameos:
the bug on the windshield,
the cooked goose,
the toad in the path of the lawnmower.
And now this.
Will you marry me?

You hesitate.
But perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself.
Tell me my darling,
back then,
what in the world were you?

What Others Say

Echoing the work of Kenneth Koch, Billy Collins and Albert Goldbarth, here comes another poet primed to tickle and provoke. Simultaneously wise and hilarious, Merton somehow plumbs issues like depression, self-loathing, regret, grief and finds its funny lining. With plainspoken lyrics and huge sense of humor, Merton allows us to pass his Final Exam on the playground of language.

— Julia Shipley

The poems in Andrew Merton's Final Exam stake out an imaginative territory that's equitably shared by God, Elmer Fudd, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, tubas, pianos and a menagerie of animals. Merton's work is as spare and lethal as grenades, blowing up easy assumptions in favor of something much more incendiary—a truth-telling that's located in the ambiguous, shape-shifting that is this moment's reality.

— Sarah Freligh

If Andy Merton's poems were baseball caps, they wouldn't say "Make America Great Again," they'd say "Make America Sane Again." Lord knows, we are in desperate need of their wry wit, unconventional wisdom, and spirited kindness. Something in the tone of this book reminds me of Szymborska and her gift for turning human delusion and bad behavior into a life that can be forgiven because it's simply human. I'm putting my hat on now, so these funny, smart poems can warm my brain.

— David Rivard

About the Author

Andrew Merton

Andrew Merton is a journalist, essayist, and poet. Publications in which his work has appeared include Esquire, Ms. Magazine, the New York Times Magazine, Boston Magazine, and the Boston Globe. His book Enemies of Choice: The Right-to-Life Movement and Its Threat to Abortion, was published by Beacon Press in 1981. His poetry has appeared in Bellevue Literary Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, The Rialto, Comstock Review, Louisville Review, Vine Leaves, the American Journal of Nursing, and elsewhere. (If he were to found a literary review, he would call it Elsewhere.) Merton's first book of poetry, Evidence that We are Descended from Chairs, with a foreword by Charles Simic (Accents Publishing, 2012), was named Outstanding Book of Poetry for 2013-2014 by the New Hampshire Writers' Project. His books of poetry Lost and Found (2016) and Final Exam (2019) were also published by Accents Publishing. He is a professor emeritus of English at the University of New Hampshire.