We Lived Happily During the War

Kaminsky titled the poem, “We Lived Happily During the War.” The title becomes the first line of the poem because what could be read as the first line begins with the abrupt conjunction “And” (Line 1). The speaker assumes an intimate, surprisingly matter-of-fact tone with the reader. However, the reader quickly realizes that this matter-of-factness refers to the tragedy of bombings, pulling them into a discordant world. The diction choice of the plural “we” also potentially implicates the reader in the situation, furthering intrigue.

Kaminsky utilizes unnatural line breaks (enjambment) as well as widely contrasting line length. These effects help the reader enter into a state of cognitive dissonance. As opposed to ending line 1 with a natural pause after the comma, Kaminsky uses enjambment (or incomplete syntax at the end of a line) and ends the line after “we,” leaving the reader with a sense of anticipation. Further, Line 2 is comprised of only a single word, “protested,” reinforcing the conflict of the speaker’s emotional state.

With Line 4, Kaminsky begins a new sentence. However, the enjambment after “I was” forces the reader to slow down, attuned to the worsening crisis: “I was / in my bed, around my bed America / was falling” (Lines 4-6). From their bed—a limited perspective—the speaker notes the world around them falling, taking the reader from the micro to macro in a very short space on the page. The repetition of the adjective-noun “invisible house” (Line 6) simultaneously speaks to both the grave urgency and out-of-sight-out-of-mind distance from destruction. The decision to repeat “invisible house by invisible house by invisible house” (Line 6) in one line helps create a domino-like effect of the worsening crisis.

Detisch notes the tense, frenetic energy is abruptly altered by the traditional meter (iambic pentameter) and simple imagery of “I took a chair and watched the sun” (Line 7). Suddenly here, the imagery is beautiful, and the syntax is balanced. In effect, the reader connects with the seemingly harmless phrase, but in the context of the preceding lines, sitting down to watch the sun feels like a powerfully ambiguous—even disturbing—act.

The final sentence of the poem begins in Line 8 and the momentum grows as the speaker’s word choice becomes more honest to the immensity of the situation: “In the sixth month / of a disastrous reign in the house of money” (Lines 8-9). Because privileged readers can connect to the comforts of upward mobility, it becomes apparent that for the speaker, money is the motor for the violence and complacency. The ability to effortlessly shift between “we” and “I” establishes a keen perception of the interconnectivity at hand, complicating an American lyric that has largely revolved around the personal pronoun, “I.”

There is incredible irony in “a disastrous reign in the house of money […] our great country of money” (Lines 9-10). However, Kaminsky stays true to the dissonance in consciousness. With allusion to Bishop, Kaminsky links his work to the larger American literary tradition, indicting it in societal complacency. As a result, there is irony behind the apology, demanding a consideration of what meaningful responsibility truly is.