Poetry Friday

This is the fourth week that I've put up a Poetry Friday post about Kenya. The first week, it was the national anthem of Kenya, complete with the music. The second week, I linked to poems about Kenya from blogs. Last week, I thought about poetry for refugees.

This week, here's a poem from William Stafford.


Untitled

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 the neglect of an air so tame
that people celebrate it by forgetting its name.


Today is an international Day of Prayer for Kenya, so please join us in praying for this beautiful country and its beautiful people.