Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Poetry 2017 | Page 138

They may have seemed content but their future was in danger,
So the bird had said.
With trade at such a pace, their kindness was reducing,
Exploiting their country that was to be led,
They forced them to buy opium that they didn’t need one bit,
So the bird had said.
This lead to a dilemma, addiction at its height,
That destroyed forever, many souls ahead,
They traded their peace for intoxication (this took away peace from the land),
So the bird had said.
Part 3:
Then one day a tragedy took place,
As a trader returned home with dread,
As he searched for the sweet face of his cheerful child,
So the bird had said.
In his heart he felt the worst feeling yet,
Oh how many miserable tears he shed,
That his family had left him, gone away to the dead,
So the bird had said.
In the years he had spent finding treasure for his kingdom,
With thoughts about riches and money in his head,
He had forgotten what really mattered most,
So the bird had said.
There were other families who realised the truth,
Before their prize vanished and fled,
And traded back their material possessions for love,
So the bird had said.
But with a future so entirely ours to mould,
Why do we trade with envy and evil, behold?
Oh why do we shortchange our family for greed?
Why can’t we differentiate between want and need?
Why do we trade our love for power?
Why do we give away sweet for sour?
Why do we sacrifice our childhood and cheer?
We have to think, we have to know,
And so the bird had said.