A collaboration with my Creative Writing students

Every fucking day.
People mountain people sea.
No one dares to scream.
 
He burnt the shit out of him.
In that damn packed MTR.

                *

Sub-divided rooms,
cropped into small pieces.
The landlord’s pigs binge.
 
Surely one can make way for
efficiency at its peak.

                *

People everywhere.
Light dazzles my sight at night.
Red, green, blue and pink.
 
Neon lights, polluted air.
Symbols of the Lion Rock.

                *

The sun warm today
even though it is winter.
Global warming here?
 
Thickened air near my throat.
The sun hot. My thirst. I know.

                *

There is always room
where the dragons stay aloof.
Here burns open arms.
 
Hiding in the shadow of
skyscrapers. Not to be seen.

                *

Stressed is not the word.
Their genes, rooted depression.
caused by extreme pace.
 
With this speed, they live onward –
Longer than forever, I heard.

                *

The air was never
Empty, never curvaceous.
Road-carved perfection.
 
Perfection that takes away
the breath of under-privileged.

                *

Neon lights, blinding
electric waves in the night.
Trapped in ecstasy.
 
And shivers from not wearing
enough to find dignity.

                *

Des Voeux Road. Snake line.
Beware – the venomous air.
They all speak in tongues.
 
Laced behind poisonous smiles.
Loud. Hiding in the open.

                *

Hiss. The city’s tongue
bitten by its lips. What pain
survive silences?
 
Beware. The unwholesome air
infiltrating from the tip.

                *
​
Black hair, yellow skin.
Similar? No! So different
‘cause of Cantonese.
 
Even cocoons suffocate
the moths before their skins break.