Paul A. Merkley
Bio
Mental traveller. Idealist. Try to be low-key but sometimes hothead. Curious George. "Ardent desire is the squire of the heart." Love Tolkien, Cinephile. Awards ASCAP, Royal Society. Music as Brain Fitness: www.musicandmemoryjunction.com
Achievements (1)
Stories (108)
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A Lincoln Penny
Coins are interesting to me because they change hands so many times. I'm not a collector, but I have bought inexpensive coins from Ancient Egypt (think whose hands might have touched those) and coins from the Roman colony of Marcianopolis that lay at the dead bottom of the Black Sea for centuries, but must have bought food, wine, maybe scrolls, maybe animals as they changed hands back and forth, maybe sometimes owned by the conquering Latin speakers, at other times from those who spoke Greek, maybe paid for music lessons or theater tickets. This story is about a particular coin.
By Paul A. Merkley12 months ago in Psyche
Time
July 2022, celebrations on the 8th, 75th anniversary of the arrival of The Friends, benign, extraterrestrial technocrats. With their nuclear fusion energy, cancer cure, and robotics, mankind doesn't have to do much. We've mostly dropped reading and writing because literature was disruptive. No meat. Reproduction is strictly controlled. The Friends and their cameras are everywhere to keep us safe.
By Paul A. Merkleyabout a year ago in Fiction
Courtesy
Kalens of March. Milady, Sovreign, and Sovreign of my heart, I am returning. I beg you tell me how it is to be. Scarce five twelvemonths past I fled as the great waves washed over my kingdom. Last to escape, I rode like the wind, pausing not until my brave mount bore me to this island. I knelt and gave thanks, then asked to be given a venture for which I would be worthy. The high repute of your court being generally noised about, I made my way there, and, offering my sword, made liege homage to the great king. Your ladyship will understand that this not a simple homage, but a liege homage. My Lord looped a silk string around my wrists, and I swore to obey no other lords and to serve him loyally until my death.
By Paul A. Merkleyabout a year ago in History
"For want of a nail..."
My name is Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan. I was born in British India, fought in World War II in the British Indian army, and eventually became a general, and President of Pakistan. If you are reading these, my personal, handwritten papers, I have been dead for some time. Of all the actions I participated in, and some of which I led, the most salient was the opening of China to the west, in 1972 when President Nixon visited that country, at that time the largest in the world. How did it happen? What was my part? The broad outlines are known, but how specifically? Read on, I pray.
By Paul A. Merkleyabout a year ago in The Swamp
Sound Judgement?
I teach music appreciation to seniors, review classical concerts, play the piano, and generally listen to a lot of music, so this is just a selection. Early in the new year my friend K (whose voice sounds as close to Maria Callas as you can get) and I performed for a friend's 90th birthday. And "My Way" just doesn't get old. It started out as a French love song, "Comme d'habitude," Paul Anka bought the rights, translated it into English, and gave it to Frank--the rest is history.
By Paul A. Merkleyabout a year ago in Beat
