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Vimy Ridge Memorial Monument

By Lance Blomgren

Turning onto the path off Canora Street and into the Vimy Ridge Memorial Park in Winnipeg, you quickly approach a triangulate split that could carry you off into the park in three directions. It is evening and perhaps you are out for an after-dinner stroll, or you're going to meet some friends in the park. Something grabs your attention and lures you off the path and straight into the field ahead of you. An oversized street lamp spills a bright, greenish light that cuts a large circle into the grass ahead of you. Your heart is pounding. As you step into the almost blinding circle of emerald, a motion sensor immediately kills the light and a muffled, barely audible ragtime tune suddenly surrounds you, coming from speakers buried in the ground. You sit down in the damp grass. In this darkness the light remains for a second in your retina, and all around you the trees are silhouettes in green air. Deep in the afterimage, a vision of sadness: the people you've forgotten outnumber the ones you remember by thousands. The thoughts that come to you are no longer held in the balance of memory and repetition so there's no way to understand them. The music pulls you into a place of deep nostalgia that has no reference point. You are lost. Get up then. Your sight is returning to normal, and you begin to remember where you are on your way to. The light flips on as you step out of the circle, but the music remains in your ears.