Editor’s note: Haverhill native and poet Raymond F. Comeau recently released a poem he calls “Unfinished Story.”
Comeau reaches into history to tell a cautionary tale of a king’s abuse of power that turns, in his words, “followers into serfs.” The poem begs the question, Will the subjects of the crown rise up and take back their inherent rights?
Adding to its contemporary significance, the “Unfinished Story” comes the year before the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution that overthrew British rule under King George III.
Comeau, now of Belmont, is a retired dean and current lecturer at Harvard University Extension School. He is also a trustee, emeritus, of the John Greenleaf Whittier Birthplace in Haverhill.
Unfinished Story
There was once in a fabulous land
A free people who elected a king
Charismatic and brimming with lies
He ruled by sowing discord
A bowling ball scattering pins
Turning Christians into anti-Christs
And followers into serfs
Pledging fealty and doing his will
Now imagine if you would
This story going on
More rumbles with justice
In forums that count
More battle declarations
Against foes of lesser bulk
More vengeance more lies
And suffering without a thought
All noted on page upon page
Will it also be written
That people stood up
© Raymond Comeau January 2025