Harry Kuhner

Felled by Friendly Fire
A Memoir Consisting of Autobiographical Short Pieces
For Martin Luksan who put me up to it

This is the account of an emigré turned remigré
and related topics, from the source.
I admit that I am a troublemaker.
Stepping out of line is a movement
my feet can’t seem to avoid making.
I’ve always said that I wanted to have smooth sailing,
but I couldn’t help rocking the boat.
Rocking seems to be in my genes.
If I had kept my pen capped,
I might have had a nicer time.

I cannot call my experiences sanguine,
but at least they serve as material.
The story was made to measure for me;
all I had to do was take my own dictation.

I’ve been telling it in bits and pieces.
I simply had to lace them together,
filling in the gaps and adding here and there.

Am relating random events?
Are these distortions?
Or are they systematic and symptomatic?

I leave it up to the reader to decide

What did I expect?
I didn’t think that they meant me –
but they did.

Some may say that this is all fantasy and fallacy.
Let them! That doesn’t faze me in the least.

Suppression is not my business.
My business is telling it.
and that’s what I’m doing
come what may.

Musical Accompaniment:
The Second Time Around
and
If They Asked Me I Could Write a Book
(They didn’t ask me, but I did anyway).