Surprises In America Poem by Bryan Thao Worra

It took me by surprise that Hitler was a vegetarian.
Rudolf Hess, too.
I remember reading about them as a boy.
I remember the outrage when someone asked us to forgive them
Because the two would pet their dogs before night.

It took me by surprise that 'Soldier of Fortune' offered a reward
For Idi Amin.
Paid in gold.
Dead or alive.
It was a lot of money.
What does it say when mercenaries set bounties on tyrants' heads?

It took me by surprise that we weren't always the good guys.

What couldn't we buy in the land of the free?

Why couldn't we go where we weren't welcome?

It struck me by surprise that many people didn't believe
I was an American,

When I had lived here all of my life.
(Except for that two-day trip to Toronto.)

If they had told me instead that my mother had died,
I don't think I would have been as surprised.