diff --git a/.changelog/05f9b507087a4140932dd6a554c9d61d.md b/.changelog/05f9b507087a4140932dd6a554c9d61d.md
index dbbf71d..21c6446 100644
--- a/.changelog/05f9b507087a4140932dd6a554c9d61d.md
+++ b/.changelog/05f9b507087a4140932dd6a554c9d61d.md
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 ---
 type: minor
 ---
-Add array syntax support to !include tag for merging multiple files
\ No newline at end of file
+
+Add merge syntax support to !include tag, `<<: !include file.yaml`
diff --git a/docs/include_directive.rst b/docs/include_directive.rst
index 79465b9..7e37e75 100644
--- a/docs/include_directive.rst
+++ b/docs/include_directive.rst
@@ -35,23 +35,24 @@ Then ``common-config`` will be set to ``{'key': 'value', 'setting': 42}``.
 The included file can contain any valid YAML type: dictionaries, lists, strings,
 numbers, or even ``null`` values.
 
-Array Syntax
+Merge Syntax
 ............
 
-The ``!include`` directive also supports an array syntax to merge multiple files
-together. This is useful for composing configurations from multiple sources.
+The ``!include`` directive can also be used with the merge operator, ``<<:``.
+This is useful for composing configurations from multiple sources.
 
 Merging Dictionaries
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 When including multiple files that contain dictionaries, the dictionaries are
 merged together. Later files override keys from earlier files::
 
   ---
   # main.yaml
-  merged-config: !include
-    - base-config.yaml
-    - overrides.yaml
+  merged-config:
+    <<: !include base-config.yaml
+    <<: !include overrides.yaml
+    key: value
 
 If ``base-config.yaml`` contains::
 
@@ -73,45 +74,10 @@ Then ``merged-config`` will be::
     'timeout': 60,      # overridden
     'retries': 3,       # from base
     'debug': true,      # overridden
-    'added': 'hi'       # added by overrides
+    'added': 'hi',      # added by overrides
+    'key': 'value',     # from main
   }
 
-Merging Arrays
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-When including multiple files that contain arrays, the arrays are concatenated
-together::
-
-  ---
-  # main.yaml
-  all-values: !include
-    - values-1.yaml
-    - values-2.yaml
-
-If ``values-1.yaml`` contains::
-
-  ---
-  - item1
-  - item2
-
-And ``values-2.yaml`` contains::
-
-  ---
-  - item3
-  - item4
-
-Then ``all-values`` will be ``['item1', 'item2', 'item3', 'item4']``.
-
-Empty Arrays
-~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-An empty array can be used with ``!include``, which results in ``null``::
-
-  ---
-  empty-value: !include []
-
-This sets ``empty-value`` to ``null``.
-
 Use Cases
 ---------
 
@@ -126,7 +92,8 @@ Shared Provider Configuration::
   ---
   # production.yaml
   providers:
-    base-config: !include providers/common.yaml
+    # contents will be merged with what's defined here
+    <<: !include providers/common.yaml
 
     route53:
       class: octodns_route53.Route53Provider
@@ -135,15 +102,34 @@ Shared Provider Configuration::
       # Include common retry/timeout settings
       settings: !include providers/aws-settings.yaml
 
+  ---
+  # providers/common.yaml
+  config:
+    class: octodns.providers.yaml.YamlProvider
+    directory: ./config/
+
+  internal:
+    class: octodns_powerdns.PdnsProvider
+    ...
+
 Shared Zone Configuration::
 
   ---
   # config.yaml
   zones:
+    # contents will become the value for example.com.
     example.com.: &standard-setup !include zones/standard-setup.yaml
     example.net.: *standard-setup
     example.org.: *standard-setup
 
+  ---
+  # zones/standard-ssetup.yaml
+  sources:
+    - config
+  targets:
+    - internal
+    - route53
+
 Zone Files
 ..........
 
@@ -153,7 +139,7 @@ duplication of common record configurations.
 Shared APEX Records
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
-When you have multiple zones with shared APEX records but differing records 
+When you have multiple zones with shared APEX records but differing records
 otherwise, you can share the APEX configuration::
 
   ---
@@ -166,9 +152,9 @@ otherwise, you can share the APEX configuration::
     type: A
     value: 1.2.3.5
 
-Where ``common/apex.yaml`` might contain::
 
   ---
+  # common/apex.yaml
   - type: A
     value: 1.2.3.4
   - type: MX
@@ -186,22 +172,6 @@ Where ``common/apex.yaml`` might contain::
       - some-domain-claiming-value=gimme
       - v=spf1 -all
 
-Common Record Values
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-You can merge multiple files to build up complex record sets::
-
-  ---
-  # zone.yaml
-  '':
-    type: TXT
-    values: !include
-      - txt-records/verification.yaml
-      - txt-records/spf.yaml
-      - txt-records/dmarc.yaml
-
-This combines TXT records from multiple files into a single record set.
-
 Subdirectories
 ..............
 
@@ -216,64 +186,12 @@ Files in subdirectories can be included using relative paths::
 Type Requirements
 -----------------
 
-When using the array syntax to include multiple files, all files must contain
-compatible types:
-
-* All files must contain **dictionaries**, or
-* All files must contain **arrays**
-
-If the first file contains a dictionary and a subsequent file contains an array
-(or vice versa), octoDNS will raise a ``ConstructorError`` with a clear message
-indicating which file and position caused the type mismatch.
-
-Simple scalar values (strings, numbers, booleans) are not supported with the
-array syntax. Use single file includes for scalar values.
+Any valid YAML datatype can be used in the basic **!include** stile.
 
-Examples
---------
-
-Example 1: Shared Provider Settings
-....................................
-
-Create reusable provider configurations::
-
-  # providers/retry-settings.yaml
-  ---
-  max_retries: 5
-  retry_delay: 2
-  timeout: 30
+When using the merge syntax all files must contain **dictionaries**.
 
-  # production.yaml
-  ---
-  providers:
-    dacloud:
-      class: octodns_route53.DaCloudProvider
-      access_key_id: env/DC_ACCESS_KEY_ID
-      secret_access_key: env/DC_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
       network: !include providers/retry-settings.yaml
 
-Example 2: Composing TXT Records
-.................................
-
-Build TXT records from multiple sources::
-
-  # txt-records/spf.yaml
-  ---
-  - "v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all"
-
-  # txt-records/verification.yaml
-  ---
-  - "google-site-verification=abc123"
-  - "ms-domain-verification=xyz789"
-
-  # example.com.yaml
-  ---
-  '':
-    type: TXT
-    values: !include
-      - txt-records/spf.yaml
-      - txt-records/verification.yaml
-
 Best Practices
 --------------
 
diff --git a/octodns/yaml.py b/octodns/yaml.py
index e40c1c1..7b7ed3e 100644
--- a/octodns/yaml.py
+++ b/octodns/yaml.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 from os.path import dirname, join
 
 from natsort import natsort_keygen
-from yaml import SafeDumper, SafeLoader, dump, load
+from yaml import SafeDumper, SafeLoader, compose, dump, load
 from yaml.constructor import ConstructorError
 from yaml.representer import SafeRepresenter
 
@@ -18,91 +18,123 @@ _natsort_key = staticmethod(natsort_keygen())
 
 class ContextLoader(SafeLoader):
 
-    def _context(self, node):
-        start_mark = node.start_mark
-        return f'{start_mark.name}, line {start_mark.line+1}, column {start_mark.column+1}'
+    def construct_include(self, node):
+        mark = self.get_mark()
+        directory = dirname(mark.name)
 
-    def _pairs(self, node):
-        self.flatten_mapping(node)
-        pairs = self.construct_pairs(node)
-        context = self._context(node)
-        return ContextDict(pairs, context=context), pairs, context
+        filename = join(directory, self.construct_scalar(node))
 
-    def _construct(self, node):
-        return self._pairs(node)[0]
+        with open(filename, 'r') as fh:
+            return load(fh, self.__class__)
 
-    def include(self, node):
+    def flatten_include(self, node):
         mark = self.get_mark()
         directory = dirname(mark.name)
 
-        def load_file(filename):
-            filename = join(directory, filename)
-            with open(filename, 'r') as fh:
-                return load(fh, self.__class__)
-
-        if not isinstance(node.value, list):
-            # single filename, just load and return whatever is in it
-            scalar = node.value
-            return load_file(scalar)
-
-        scalars = node.value
-        data = [load_file(s.value) for s in scalars]
-
-        if not data:
-            return None
-        elif isinstance(data[0], list):
-            # we're working with lists
-            ret = data[0]
-            for i, d in enumerate(data[1:]):
-                if not isinstance(d, list):
-                    context = self._context(node)
-                    raise ConstructorError(
-                        None,
-                        None,
-                        f'!include first element contained a list, element {i+1} contained a {d.__class__.__name__} at {context}',
-                    )
-                ret.extend(d)
-            return ret
-        elif isinstance(data[0], dict):
-            # assume we're working with dict
-            ret = data[0]
-            for i, d in enumerate(data[1:]):
-                if not isinstance(d, dict):
-                    context = self._context(node)
+        filename = join(directory, self.construct_scalar(node))
+
+        with open(filename, 'r') as fh:
+            yield compose(fh, self.__class__).value
+
+    def construct_mapping(self, node, deep=False):
+        '''
+        Calls our parent and wraps the resulting dict with a ContextDict
+        '''
+        start_mark = node.start_mark
+        context = f'{start_mark.name}, line {start_mark.line+1}, column {start_mark.column+1}'
+        return ContextDict(
+            super().construct_mapping(node, deep), context=context
+        )
+
+    # the following 4 methods are ported out of
+    # https://github.com/yaml/pyyaml/pull/894 an intended to be used until we
+    # can (hopefully) require a version of pyyaml with that PR merged.
+
+    @classmethod
+    def add_flattener(cls, tag, flattener):
+        if not 'yaml_flatteners' in cls.__dict__:
+            cls.yaml_flatteners = {}
+        cls.yaml_flatteners[tag] = flattener
+
+    # this overwrites/ignores the built-in version of the method
+    def flatten_mapping(self, node):  # pragma: no cover
+        merge = []
+        for key_node, value_node in node.value:
+            if key_node.tag == 'tag:yaml.org,2002:merge':
+                flattener = self.yaml_flatteners.get(value_node.tag)
+                if flattener:
+                    for value in flattener(self, value_node):
+                        merge.extend(value)
+                else:
                     raise ConstructorError(
-                        None,
-                        None,
-                        f'!include first element contained a dict, element {i+1} contained a {d.__class__.__name__} at {context}',
+                        "while constructing a mapping",
+                        node.start_mark,
+                        "expected a mapping or list of mappings for merging, but found %s"
+                        % value_node.id,
+                        value_node.start_mark,
                     )
-                ret.update(d)
-            return ret
-
-        context = self._context(node)
-        raise ConstructorError(
-            None,
-            None,
-            f'!include first element contained an unsupported type, {data[0].__class__.__name__} at {context}',
-        )
+            elif key_node.tag == 'tag:yaml.org,2002:value':
+                key_node.tag = 'tag:yaml.org,2002:str'
+                merge.append((key_node, value_node))
+            else:
+                merge.append((key_node, value_node))
+
+        node.value = merge
+
+    def flatten_yaml_seq(self, node):  # pragma: no cover
+        submerge = []
+        for subnode in node.value:
+            # we need to flatten each item in the seq, most likely they'll be mappings,
+            # but we need to allow for custom flatteners as well.
+            flattener = self.yaml_flatteners.get(subnode.tag)
+            if flattener:
+                for value in flattener(self, subnode):
+                    submerge.append(value)
+            else:
+                raise ConstructorError(
+                    "while constructing a mapping",
+                    node.start_mark,
+                    "expected a mapping for merging, but found %s" % subnode.id,
+                    subnode.start_mark,
+                )
+        submerge.reverse()
+        for value in submerge:
+            yield value
 
+    def flatten_yaml_map(self, node):  # pragma: no cover
+        self.flatten_mapping(node)
+        yield node.value
+
+
+# These 2 add's are also ported out of the PR
+ContextLoader.add_flattener(
+    'tag:yaml.org,2002:seq', ContextLoader.flatten_yaml_seq
+)
+ContextLoader.add_flattener(
+    'tag:yaml.org,2002:map', ContextLoader.flatten_yaml_map
+)
 
-ContextLoader.add_constructor('!include', ContextLoader.include)
 ContextLoader.add_constructor(
-    ContextLoader.DEFAULT_MAPPING_TAG, ContextLoader._construct
+    ContextLoader.DEFAULT_MAPPING_TAG, ContextLoader.construct_mapping
 )
+ContextLoader.add_constructor('!include', ContextLoader.construct_include)
+ContextLoader.add_flattener('!include', ContextLoader.flatten_include)
 
 
 # Found http://stackoverflow.com/a/21912744 which guided me on how to hook in
 # here
 class SortEnforcingLoader(ContextLoader):
 
-    def _construct(self, node):
-        ret, pairs, context = self._pairs(node)
+    def construct_mapping(self, node, deep=False):
+        ret = super().construct_mapping(node, deep)
 
-        keys = [d[0] for d in pairs]
+        keys = list(ret.keys())
         keys_sorted = sorted(keys, key=self.KEYGEN)
         for key in keys:
             expected = keys_sorted.pop(0)
             if key != expected:
+                start_mark = node.start_mark
+                context = f'{start_mark.name}, line {start_mark.line+1}, column {start_mark.column+1}'
                 raise ConstructorError(
                     None,
                     None,
@@ -119,7 +151,7 @@ class NaturalSortEnforcingLoader(SortEnforcingLoader):
 
 NaturalSortEnforcingLoader.add_constructor(
     SortEnforcingLoader.DEFAULT_MAPPING_TAG,
-    NaturalSortEnforcingLoader._construct,
+    NaturalSortEnforcingLoader.construct_mapping,
 )
 
 
@@ -129,7 +161,7 @@ class SimpleSortEnforcingLoader(SortEnforcingLoader):
 
 SimpleSortEnforcingLoader.add_constructor(
     SortEnforcingLoader.DEFAULT_MAPPING_TAG,
-    SimpleSortEnforcingLoader._construct,
+    SimpleSortEnforcingLoader.construct_mapping,
 )
 
 
diff --git a/tests/config/include/dict.yaml b/tests/config/include/dict.yaml
index da2e22f..2390cce 100644
--- a/tests/config/include/dict.yaml
+++ b/tests/config/include/dict.yaml
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 ---
 k: v
+m: o
 z: 42
diff --git a/tests/config/include/main.yaml b/tests/config/include/main.yaml
index 897b4d6..11f6c6c 100644
--- a/tests/config/include/main.yaml
+++ b/tests/config/include/main.yaml
@@ -4,12 +4,5 @@ included-dict: !include dict.yaml
 included-empty: !include empty.yaml
 included-nested: !include nested.yaml
 included-subdir: !include subdir/value.yaml
-included-array-of-arrays: !include
-  - array.yaml
-  - array.yaml
-included-array-of-dicts: !include
-  - dict.yaml
-  - dict_too.yaml
-included-empty-array: !include []
 key: value
 name: main
diff --git a/tests/config/include/merge.yaml b/tests/config/include/merge.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..393ca33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/config/include/merge.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+parent:
+  k: overwritten
+  <<: !include dict.yaml
+  child: added
+  z: overwrote
diff --git a/tests/test_octodns_yaml.py b/tests/test_octodns_yaml.py
index c91ff72..7a8b51c 100644
--- a/tests/test_octodns_yaml.py
+++ b/tests/test_octodns_yaml.py
@@ -65,17 +65,14 @@ class TestYaml(TestCase):
 
     def test_include(self):
         with open('tests/config/include/main.yaml') as fh:
-            data = safe_load(fh, enforce_order=False)
+            data = safe_load(fh)
         self.assertEqual(
             {
                 'included-array': [14, 15, 16, 72],
-                'included-dict': {'k': 'v', 'z': 42},
+                'included-dict': {'k': 'v', 'm': 'o', 'z': 42},
                 'included-empty': None,
                 'included-nested': 'Hello World!',
                 'included-subdir': 'Hello World!',
-                'included-array-of-arrays': [14, 15, 16, 72, 14, 15, 16, 72],
-                'included-array-of-dicts': {'foo': 'bar', 'k': 'v', 'z': 43},
-                'included-empty-array': None,
                 'key': 'value',
                 'name': 'main',
             },
@@ -90,41 +87,24 @@ class TestYaml(TestCase):
                 str(ctx.exception),
             )
 
-        with open(
-            'tests/config/include/include-array-with-non-existant.yaml'
-        ) as fh:
-            with self.assertRaises(FileNotFoundError) as ctx:
-                data = safe_load(fh)
-            self.assertEqual(
-                "[Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'tests/config/include/does-not-exist.yaml'",
-                str(ctx.exception),
-            )
-
-        with open('tests/config/include/include-array-with-dict.yaml') as fh:
-            with self.assertRaises(ConstructorError) as ctx:
-                data = safe_load(fh)
-            self.assertEqual(
-                "!include first element contained a list, element 1 contained a ContextDict at tests/config/include/include-array-with-dict.yaml, line 2, column 7",
-                str(ctx.exception),
-            )
-
-        with open('tests/config/include/include-dict-with-array.yaml') as fh:
-            with self.assertRaises(ConstructorError) as ctx:
-                data = safe_load(fh)
-            self.assertEqual(
-                "!include first element contained a dict, element 1 contained a list at tests/config/include/include-dict-with-array.yaml, line 2, column 7",
-                str(ctx.exception),
-            )
-
-        with open(
-            'tests/config/include/include-array-with-unsupported.yaml'
-        ) as fh:
-            with self.assertRaises(ConstructorError) as ctx:
-                data = safe_load(fh)
-            self.assertEqual(
-                "!include first element contained an unsupported type, str at tests/config/include/include-array-with-unsupported.yaml, line 2, column 7",
-                str(ctx.exception),
-            )
+    def test_include_merge(self):
+        with open('tests/config/include/merge.yaml') as fh:
+            data = safe_load(fh, enforce_order=False)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            {
+                'parent': {
+                    # overwritten by include
+                    'k': 'v',
+                    # added by include
+                    'm': 'o',
+                    # explicitly in parent
+                    'child': 'added',
+                    # overrode by inlucd
+                    'z': 'overwrote',
+                }
+            },
+            data,
+        )
 
     def test_order_mode(self):
         data = {'*.1.2': 'a', '*.10.1': 'c', '*.11.2': 'd', '*.2.2': 'b'}