"At the Un-national Monument along the Canadian Border" by William Stafford

When I first read this poem, I have to admit, I was really confused. The author seemed to be talking about a field that people have forgotten about. The author compares it to a field people have fought a war on and those that people have died on and how, although it still looks the same, if not better, it is not remembered for anything special.

When we talked about this in class, the idea about memorials came up. It seems as though people remember certain places where battles were fought, when the real issue is to remember why the battles were fought and what came of them.

We also spoke about how the purpose of poetry is to commemorate the little things. This sort of reminds me of speaking for those who cannot speak up, for those who are oppressed and go un-noticed everyday. There are a lot of people that need to be stood up for and spoken for, and this poem was just a small example of that.

Grammar Exercises:
The field, that went unnoticed, was really something that shoudl be rememebered.
Reading this poem, I felt inspired to speak for those who cannot.
I think it is important to remember who fought for your rights.