Sign-Inventory 1, Week 11

Ilya Kaminsky
We Lived Happily During the War

and when they bombed other people’s houses, we
protested
but not enough, we opposed them but not
enough. I was
in my bed, around my bed America
was falling: invisible house by invisible house by invisible house.
I took a chair outside and watched the sun
                                           in the sixth month
of a disastrous reign in the house of money
in the street of money in the city of money, in the country of money,
our great country of money, we (forgive us)
lived happily during the war.


The piece starts in media res, as if erupting into the action. 
The first three lines has strong, war-suggesting verbs like: bombed, protested, opposed.
Lack of punctuation creates a rushing feeling to the lines.
Duality of the meaning of "in the sixth month"
The "we" is left vague in the piece
Repetition of homes and money, as if suggesting a material importance.