When I was in hospital I found I could hardly read or writ. In these circumstances I began to write poems. I found that poetry was the only kind of w… - Louis Simpson

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When I was in hospital I found I could hardly read or writ. In these circumstances I began to write poems. I found that poetry was the only kind of writing in which I could express my thoughts. One night I dreamed I was lying on the bank of a canal, under machine gun fire. The next morning I wrote it out , Carentan O Caretan, and as I wrote I realized it was not a dream, but the memory of my first time under fire