Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Poetry 2019 | Page 128

Of all kinds and types,
Explore during adventures,
Until we have to leave.
I wake to dissent.
And I go up to the deck.
What I see shocks me.
Loose ropes whip wildly,
The sails billow in and out,
Stairs creak when I climb.
The skies crash
Out there on the horizon,
Lightning strikes.
The wind shrieks and screams
Twisting and turning, it
Howls, relentlessly.
The sea heaves
Slap-slap-slap
Clawing at the ship
But it is terror.
For in wind you cannot drown -
Water drags you down.
The seas rise upwards!
Stretching hungry waves over
The ship’s banisters
Like strong liquid vises
Wind and water together
Water blinds my eyes,
Wind makes me stumble,
Blinded, disabled, frightened -
Sounds reach crescendo!
Fear.
The ship rocks violently!
I fear for my life...
I whimper and cling
To walls, so cowardly am I.
Suddenly - “Rally!”
He speaks. “Procedures!”
He appears out of nowhere!
I am shocked, and I
See it in his brow.
See his challenge to the storm.
It is like he says: