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On My Father's Refusal to Renew his Subscription to The Beijing Review

He's fallen out with everyone,
including God, but hasn't had a rift with China.
Yet he's set his face against renewal.
'Getting near the end now.'
He never speaks of death or dying.
At ninety-eight too late to start anew?
'Aye, getting near the end.'
What can he mean?
A Five Year Plan whose targets he can't meet?
Is he thinking of Taiwan?
Another link in the Great Chain of Beijing.
They'll repossess it,
just like they did Hong Kong,
toying with America.
All the more good cause to sign
along the dotted line?
Five more years' deliverance by airmail.
Not filtered by the West
through the Guardian digest
but straight from the red, red heart of the world.

by Willy Maley

More information about the poem and how it was developed here and more about National Poetry Day.