River Bend Westerly, RI Pt. I

For taphophiles who truly love the look of granite, there can be no finer cemetery which can offer the magnificent and enduring majesty of this particular stone than River Bend in Westerly, R.I.  The cemetery, which has Victorian, Deco, mid-century, and contemporary stones of great beauty and craftmanship, may be found on Beach Street.  This area, noted for its blue granite and peerless Italian stone carvers, is rich in masterpieces of the carver’s art.  At one time Westerly was a center for monument carving with many studios vying for the monument trade with commissions coming from afar. Today the famous Buzzi Monuments is still in business, but many other familiar names, such as the Bonner family, are no longer in the trade.  A walk through River Bend is like taking a master’s class in monument making, with some of the finest examples of granite work to be seen anywhere in the country.  More photographs of this remarkable cemetery will follow this slide presentation soon. 

We are the lost sung by Libera

We are the lost who lived and loved
We felt the dawn saw sunset glow
for now we lie in row on row
in Flanders fields

O lux beata lumina

The larks fly high where guns destroyed
Now poppies grow and crosses show
where now we lie in Flanders fields
in row on row

Time like an ever rolling stream
bears all its sons away
They fly forgotten as a dream
dies at the break of day

We shall not sleep who lived and loved
who felt the dawn saw sunset glow
If you break faith with us who lie
in Flanders fields

From failing hands we throw the torch
Our light be yours to hold it high
For now we lie in Flanders fields
in row on row