Almost too young for the Lafayette Escadrille
but determined and dashing I volunteered and flew
single-enginedly through amazing dogfights.
Once, hurtling upside down, I fell out
miraculously landing in a barnyard’s hay on my nose
which broke my fall and Romanized my profile
and, not incidentally, stimulated my interest
in my profession as specialist; eye, nose, and ear.
My publication I tried hardest not to leave
in waiting rooms: The Importance of Being Ignorant.