Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Poetry 2018 | Page 97

V
One stupid monkey pisses on the Buddha.
VI
Monk, monkey, pig, and ogre
pass the years with
blind luck.
Redemption-bound,
mercy-bailed,
together they best the once unbested:
mountain of fire,
demon of bone
monsters worse still.
Fourteen years, looking back
pass quite quickly
in company.
VII
Do you know,
monk and monkey
are but letters apart.
Perhaps two become enlightened
and two become redeemed;
perhaps one becomes a dragon
and all of them heroes;
but really, all they’ve come to be are
vagabond voyagers, and
world-weary wanderers--
good, good
friends.
Three criminals, a horse, and a wise old man
return from their journey to the west.