O Canada!

Today, like each first of July, is Canada Day! In honor of our neighbors to the North, here is a poem by William Stafford:


At the Un-National Monument Along the Canadian Border

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 any 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.


It has been nearly three years since I lived in Canada, but I still keep a tiny little Canadian flag pinned to my backpack. I can sing the national anthem, "O Canada." I still keep in touch with many of the friends I made there -- friends that I think will be friends for life. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the nation I called home for a while -- the nation that gave me a visa to come and live and go to school. Oh, and gave me affordable health insurance, eh??

Seriously, God bless Canada.