Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Poetry 2020complete | Page 82

The Hidden Story Behind Shenzhen’s Rise
West Island School, Tsang, Eric - 13
I am a tree in the heart of Shenzhen,
Now axed down and turned into firewood.
I used to serve many purposes back then,
And still recall the memories of my childhood.
Brought into being a hundred years ago,
I was planted in a small fishing village.
I heard the birds chirp, the river flow,
And fishermen chatting in their language.
I provided the villagers with clean fresh air,
And let birds build nests on my broad arms.
In return the villagers gave me nourishing care,
And every day I woke up to a birdsong’s charm.
I picture how I used to be the tallest in the town
Climb upon me and you could see till the horizon.
People lay down in my shade, slept safe and sound
Away from the unforgiving swelter of the intense sun.
I wished this peacefulness lasted an eternity,
Instead towering cranes started appearing around me.
This marked the end of a village and the start of a city,
While the constant ear-splitting noises rang in me.
The sounds I heard were out of the ordinary
Like the continuous clang of construction.
It’s a bee’s benign buzz, but it blared across the city
And was as raucous as the world’s biggest ructions.
A rather unpleasant sound I encountered in the city
Was the collective “toot” vehicles made in congestions
The orchestrated brass instruments all blasted note D
Accompanied by the bass of the droning car engines.
I could only gaze up helplessly, an irrelevant has-been
As I witnessed Shenzhen’s inevitable morph.
I let off a heavy sigh of sorrow as the truth digs in -
I was once a giant, but now in comparison a dwarf.
I look upon the endless labyrinth of skyscrapers
Both with great admiration and regret.
Only trace amounts can be seen of nature,
This is an incredulous sight I’ll never forget.
It seems as though I am blessed,
I have gone through precarious disasters unscathed.
People clambered upon me in times of distress
While I stood strong amid the chaos, unfazed.
Yet now, however, I doubt my blessings.