Thinking of Louis Simpson

I was too blind for the army
So I stayed home with a radio.

Remember those pressure hoses
In gas stations
They set off chimes
When tires rolled over?

America, boy scouts, flags
And me, sightless.

I tried telling you
How I loved your poems.
What a veteran presence you had.

I was the boy
Who leaned close—
The Zenith hot.

Yes I’m coming to the point.