Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Poetry 2017 | Page 148

The House Your Reminiscence Built
Carmel School Association Elsa High School, Fischer, Ben – 15
( Do you ever know that
In you is the thought of being alive, darting through the streets of Old Shanghai
staring at flames, breathing in hope through nostrils that breed
happiness, of listening to the chimes of City God Temple with
crystalline ears. I think of you in tears.
I think of you
uncaged )
never
( Do you ever know that
In you still lies the stories, buried somewhere under the wheelchairs you wish
were strapped with wings and your skin; a skeletal embrace that unravels
like string, like the dreams you spun on your arachnoid loom. Do you know the day
you leave? Is it coming soon?
I pray for you
unaged )
never
( Do you ever know that
In you is music—something soft, something soulful—something past the din
of melancholy, past chairs littering the waiting rooms beyond a visitor glass, past patients shuffled
over
tennis balls, past brooms sweeping declarations of faith to God and unasked vacancies and halls you’d
use
to run around and scream.
I hope you
forget )
( Do you ever know that
never
In you is a bulletin board on which your husband’s tacked, his lips on your cheek, as
happy, strong and mortal as he was—do you remember him? He was the first to tell your old story,
to kiss
you under City Wall stars and to swear you Alzheimer’s a bitch and dance to Liu Fang like you used
to,
back before there w