Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Winners 2020 | Page 49

Hong Kong Young Writers Awards 2020
would hurt your eyes, instead of only
irritating them?
what about it grandma eve
it’s been there forever
no dear
it wasn’t
certainly not when we were
young and sprightly just like you
pollution wasn’t so bad back
then. every now and then it got
smoggy but never permanently
now it’s like a cloud that’s never
left us
a presence always looking
over our shoulder
like we did something wrong.
but then what did you mean about the beach?
what did grandma mary mean about the birds?
what did grandpa adam mean about the sky?
we have beaches
we have birds
we have a sky
a beach without waves and waves
of plastic bottles washing up on shore,
again and again, tomorrow and
tomorrow and tomorrow?
birds without those little plastic
contraptions attached to their rear ends, to
ensure no faeces dare splatter on a human,
perverting nature’s humour?
a sky without perpetual
grey?
they don’t have unclean beaches
in fiji you know
they also don’t have grey skies
in fiji
lord, they don’t have these plastic pieces
of junk anywhere!
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