Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Poetry 2017 | Page 122

Echoes
St. Margaret's Co-Educational English Secondary and Primary School
(Secondary Section), Selva, Achuda - 13
Like a Chinese dragon dance
Full of life and vibrancy,
Is Old Shanghai,
So lively and effervescent it seems.
Admiring the arched windows,
The detailed architecture, the wondrous beauty.
Reveling in the delicious aromas
Wafting on the breeze.
But no, the truth
Is far more unnerving.
Under the golden façade
Lie secrets still, of Old Shanghai.
Lining the streets are beautiful embellishments,
Being enjoyed by more than a few;
But can they not see
Beneath the shiny veneer?
The cruel remnants
Of a once-majestic city
Conquered by war and
Vanquished by Western pity.
Oh, Old Shanghai! Under the shimmering veil,
A dark, dark world of lies
And schemes and bribery
Once lay so treacherously.
Such beauty and elegance you hold
From times and places long gone past;
Like faded gold paint
On a dead king’s castle.