This is the Field

Painting by John Hall



This is the field

This is the field
where the battle did not happen,
where the unknown soldier did not die.
This is the field where grass joined hands,
where no monument stands,
and the only heroic thing is the sky.

Birds fly here without a sound,
unfolding their wings across the open.
No people killed--or were killed--
on this ground
hallowed by neglect and an air so tame
that people celebrate it
by forgetting its name.

William Stafford

Posted over on mrbauld.com