Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Poetry 2019 | Page 43

Cheung-Ming's Last Stand Po Leung Kuk Choi Kai Yau School, Wong, Ching Hin Matthew - 10 The sea is calm, the sky is clear. The sailors are all drinking beer. No clouds were floating in the air. The sailors dance without a care. Their revelry was heard afar, with a blissfulness that none could mar. Their happy whoops and joyful yells, in lands of pure joy the sailors’ hearts dwell. But why oh why, I hear you ask, did they all choose to neglect their tasks? The answer is: they share one ambition, one prime goal they made their commission. This, they pursued with determined spirits. And yes, they had some distinctive habits… some of which were rather odd, like eating a clammy, raw, wriggling cod, or sleeping on a weave of dirty old wires, or running round the ship until they tire. But all were united in the sole desire to fulfill the dreams of the one they admire: a humble young captain by the name of Cheung-Ming. To him, future children will gratefully sing of the hero that conquered the notorious pirates, their lethal cannons, and sinister parrots. But why was his mind dark with foreboding? A nagging sense that danger was unfolding? For his only desire was finally in operation to give back treasures taken by the abomination of the pirates who sow chaos and destruction. But Cheung-Ming’s heart wasn’t light with elation. His happy balloon was undergoing deflation. He couldn’t shake this persistent sense that there would be no smooth recompense. Something was bound to go astray, so his exhilaration began to decay. His magnificent fleet of ships sailed on the sea. The sailors were now as busy as bees. Wind was blowing strong on the mast, pushing them toward their goal, at last. Upon the vessel was silver and gold inside a chest with no spot of mould. Gems and diamonds, rubies and sapphires, breath-taking silks that all desire. A lure, to be sure, for avarice and greed, and for evil men with desperate need.