Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Poetry 2017 | Page 151

Two Depictions of the bund
Chinese International School Hangzhou, Shin, Ethan - 14
My brush washes the thin paper in Persian blue,
As Japanese warships sail into The Bund.
Countless soldiers dressed in a dull khaki brown disembark,
Their bayonets sharper than the pointy tip of my brush,
Their guns darker than the thickest ink.
I paint them in miniature strokes,
For there are too many of them to count.
My heart pounds as I depict a Japanese soldier
Holding the photograph of Emperor Hirohito above his head,
He tramples a golden statue of the Buddha into the dirt with his boots.
Splashing teal grey streaks onto to the upper half of the painting,
My brush outlines the bombed Shanghai Cathay Hotel,
Now as skeletal as the begging children beneath it.
I dab thick red circles amongst the crowd of people,
For a man is drenched in a pool of blood upon the ground.
A soldier stands there, in one hand, a flag of the rising sun,
In the other, a silver bayonet dripping with dark fluid.
His eyes are those of a viper, impatient for the next command to strike.
My fists clench as I yearn to draw The Bund as I know it,
With red dancing in the Chinese flag, not soaking the streets.
A fresh piece of paper stretches out on an easel before me.
My brush again washes the paper in Persian blue,
This time glorified by a series of glittering buildings,
Their reflections taller than the depths of The Bund,
As smooth as Nanjing silk, as lustrous as a pile of crystals.
Flares of magnificent gradients of light, azure blue and emerald green
Shower my pallet with a lively spectrum.