Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Poetry 2019 | Page 67

The Walk.
Harrow International School Hong Kong, Levieux, Chloe - 14
Step.
Move! Move! Faster!
One
By
One
My comrades
Are forced into
The vast void of the ocean.
Step.
Crack.
Crunch.
Swish.
The water is stained
With the colour of Persian rubies
Blinking in the midday sun.
The line moves forwards.
Step.
The Buccaneers
Shove me onwards.
Ball and chain
Drag
Across the tattered deck.
Smack. Thump.
I lay on the ground
Too tired to
Get back up.
Step.
I look up
To all the men
Before me,
Inching their way
To their ocean graves
And I sigh.
I have let all of you
Down.
A Captain.
A leader.
A guardian.
How can I call myself
Captain
When I couldn’t even get my friends
Home safely?
Disgrace.
Step.
To think
Mere hours ago we were
Celebrating
The discovery of an uncharted island,
Cheers, drinks, songs.
We were vulnerable