Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Poetry 2018 | Page 54

Their last destination
Was the deep blue sea
Dotted with pirates
Who were fierce and fearless
“What shall we do?” cried Xuanzang
The Monkey King and the friar ran out of ideas
So the talking pig volunteered
To talk to the pirates
He talked for days and nights
He even told them about the Arabian Nights
He chattered, babbled and rattled
Till the pirates got fed up
Finally the pirates declared
They would bring them to Nalanda
And they would split the treasures
“I tricked them into believing me” jeered the talking pig
So Xuanzang and his friends
Traveled with the pirates and continued their quest
They finally reached Nalanda
A place full of bananas
The Monkey King was delighted
But the pirates were disgusted
“Where is the Western scripture?” cried Xuanzang
The Monkey King asked his monkey friends
They pointed at the largest banana tree
The words were written on the leaves
The banana trees were sacred trees
Worshiped by people for centuries
The banana leaves were used as plates
To distribute blessed food to the people till today
Xuanzang was eager to do the same
He took the leaves and brought them home
And spread the scripture around the globe