Alfred Lord McCluskey's reading of his newly compose poem, In Flunders Fiord, was the highlight of the annual Wuxi China Expatdom Remembrance Day Ceremonies held at Harry Memorial Squares Gold, Diamond, and Platinum.
Accompanied by the bagpiper Angus McGlutten, the Poet Laureate of the Wuxi China Expatdom read the following:
In Flunders Fiords the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flunders Fiords.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flunders Fiords.
At the conclusion of the reading, the ten million who attended the ceremony broke into a long, generous and warm applause for McCluskey and McGlutten.
After the ceremony, McCluskey told the WCE Blog that he was inspired to compose the poem because of his preoccupation with death and how it stood as the transition between the struggle of life and the peace.
"I think this poem will be recited on Remembrance Day from now to ever after!" said his majesty, the King of the Wuxi China Expatdom, Gorzo the Mighty.
Wuxi Expat Poetry fans say Flunders Fiords is one of the greatest poems McCluskey has ever written. "It ranks up there with his poems with Ode to a Chinese Vase, the Pop Song of G Prufrock Alfred, The Cool Swans of the Wild, The Wastebasket, To the Bar Girls to Come to My Apartment, Tai Hu Beach, Kubla Gorzo, and The Panzer." said Wuxi Expat blogger Andrew Cowlinch.
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