Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Poetry 2017 | Page 69

Sailing
Chinese International School, Cheng, Davis – 14
There was a City on the Sea,
A romantic pilgrimage made yearly,
By a sailor and his beautiful bride,
For walking under an azure sky
Mornings blend to nights to day,
Early walks from balcony to bay
On the scent like basset hounds
For scallion pancakes, smells and sounds
Waltzing under the glare of eyes,
They left quickly without goodbyes.
One way smiles to the vendors gaze,
In exchange for breakfast he pays.
Floating down the Huangpu river
Past scaffolding that’s so familiar.
Boarding the boat, leaving for home,
Their unwillingness to leave was shown.
They vowed to come back yearly,
Returning to memories held dearly.
Every year twas the same time,
Repeating experiences sublime.
To take his wife there once more,
He brought his weary boat ashore.
To that food stall he would run,
Only to buy food for just one.
The food the bought was still the same,
But his dearest’s health did not remain.
Death and sorrow he did learn,
To “Paris of the East” he did not return.