H.M. Merjian was born into an immigrant family in New York City and was raised, educated and shaped on its streets and schools. He spoke a polyglot of languages, reflecting the genocidal wanderings of his parents; survival tongues: Armenian, Turkish, Arabic and Greek. Escaping the Big Apple, he now lives on what the Brits would call “a small holding” — that is, a piece of land on which he raises and butchers his own lamb, pig and turkey, and, in like fashion, grows a large, very large, vegetable garden. He cans, he freezes, he sauces, he cooks, he packages and he gets by. Over the years, he has been published in various publications, but, for the most part, they have been “ethnic” publications. He has come to realize that “ethnic” is universal; “ethnic” is humanity; “ethnic” is archetypal. And so he is now being recognized in poetry journals. Amen!