Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Poetry 2017 | Page 162

He sees the carriages and hard-working
men And the harbors and honking
ships nearby. Day and night he hears the
clatter, chatter, Yelling and laughter
together
Of the people in hidden bars.
Through the narrow alleys
and Flyers that dance with
the wind, The people call
under straw hats While
carrying their bags of wheat.
But he admires the girls in flowery
cheongsams, The black hair wrapped up so
tight,
With gold necklaces shining as brightly
As the people’s lives.
The experienced, uniformed
general, And his bruised,
blistered body,
With shadows under his
eyes He witnesses the
years pass by. Today it’s
the Old City,
But then he had smiled
At the new Shanghai.
And then returned home to his shrine.