What else do the pictures say? There is no such thing as an ordinary life. The blind soldiers are in a single file parade. Each holds his memories of heartbreak, of shattering violence, of the betrayal of history. Each man is blind in a new world without rational answers. The photographs remind me that I shouldn’t forget that devastating time. Just thinking about it I find I have to walk around my study, pick up small objects, a doll from Lapland, a small piece of votive comfort. The violence of the first world war is beyond comprehension, even now, almost a hundred years later. Imagine trying to find your way ahead, blind, after the battle of the Somme? Imagine having to resketch your own heart.
From What a Dog Can Do: A Memoir of Life with Guide Dogs
by Stephen Kuusisto, forthcoming from Simon and Schuster, 2014
Planet of the Blind 
Thank you for the excerpts. I’m very much looking forward to the new book. Hurry!
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