Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Poetry 2019 | Page 102

The First Ming Voyage
West Island School, Lee, Claire - 13
The old story of the first Ming voyages,
A tale not so often told
Now if you want to listen,
Allow me to let the true story unfold.
Many versions have been described,
But none of them are pure.
Beware friends,
That this is is a true legend,
Taken place in the first Ming Voyage,
In 1403.
So do not start snickering and smirking.
In this story, men met their end,
Screaming and spluttering.
The first Ming Voyage,
Men were so delighted,
To be part of the Middle Kingdom’s first ever trade,
To demonstrate the strength of China’s blade.
The brave lads willing to danger their lives for the infallible Emperor,
Half of them would return with the Emperor’s gifts, half of them would perish, but none knew who.
So alas, off they set sail,
Into the unknown and
Unfamiliar world,
Where China
Was in the
Middle
Of it.
No one knew of a curse,
Placed by a sorceress out of boredom,
That existed long before mankind,
That would sink all ships,
All people,
Who dared to immerse,
In its deep, undefined,
Waters.
The moment they left China’s protection,
They each felt bounded by ropes,
But no ropes could be seen in their reflection.
It squeezed them mightily,
It was nothing either of them could take lightly.
The sky turned dark.