If you were born on this date
It was likely wartime
And hardly your fault
Though it was likely wartime.
America eats with a baby spoon
But this is not your fault
A violent infant state
Is scarcely your fault.
It was wartime
And the pond where you were born
With its oxidizing auto
Was not your fault.
An infant state
Is not your fault.
A violent state
Is scarcely your fault.
No one can blame you
For the martial music.
Yes I stare at my mirror
Leaning close as the blind do
And I declare
This isn’t mine
Though it is
As Poe knew—
This telltale
War-heart
Mine and yours
You can look it up.
ABOUT: Stephen Kuusisto is the author of the memoirs Have Dog, Will Travel; Planet of the Blind (a New York Times “Notable Book of the Year”); and Eavesdropping: A Memoir of Blindness and Listening and of the poetry collections Only Bread, Only Light and Letters to Borges. A graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and a Fulbright Scholar, he has taught at the University of Iowa, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and Ohio State University. He currently teaches at Syracuse University where he holds a University Professorship in Disability Studies. He is a frequent speaker in the US and abroad. His website is StephenKuusisto.com.
Have Dog, Will Travel: A Poet’s Journey is now available for pre-order:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
IndieBound.org
(Photo picturing the cover of Stephen Kuusisto’s new memoir “Have Dog, Will Travel” along with his former guide dogs Nira (top) and Corky, bottom.) Bottom photo by Marion Ettlinger
Planet of the Blind 