at the cemetery, walnut grove plantation

Clifton is very clear by the end of the poem with his hostility towards how people look at all the work thats put into the walnut grove plantation. The first three stanzas are pretty normal describing the situation at hand and how the inventory just lists ten names of slaves who lie at that cemetery, yet this simple situation is so much more to it than meets the eye. These people who are listed actually are human beings that each have a story to tell. Theres also the stanza that is italized that says "the inventory lists ten slaves but only men were recognized." In the next stanza, the author goes on to say that these people were also woman and children who should also be recognized for their hardships. The author wants the reader to know that these "bashful names" should be given more credit than a mere list of names that lived and worked on the property. Slaves were the main reason our economy even flourished the way it did, and without them we couldn't of made it this far, and American history downplays the importance of these people. The end of the poem repeatedly says here lies and finishes with the word "hear," and the author wants people to hear and appreciated the slaves who worked so hard for economy and our country.