Published March 1, 2008
Kaitak, July 1997
[pre]Morning;
The smell of scrambled eggs permeates
The air; the English rain fights
At the window.
Except we are not in England.
The mist parts to reveal a pristine
Blue sea. Waves lap against a ferry,
junks shimmer.
We glide past huge, mute
White sentinels. The clothes on
A washing line wave eagerly at us.
Some people tend to their sanctuaries;
Others scuttle about below us in their
Cars, trams and red-draped taxis. Still others
Gaze fixatedly at their TV screens.
All are waiting.
Waiting anxiously for the moment when
All hell will break loose; when
Fireworks will glitter and explode over Victoria Harbour; when
The scarlet stars of China will replace the ubiquitous Union Jack.
The captain announces
We are arriving. There is no better time
to say it -
Darling, I'm coming home.[/pre]
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It was meant to be about a British Chinese person arriving in Hong Kong on the eve of the Handover. As Gryphon rightly pointed out, the title refers to the old HK airport on the mainland, which was notoriously difficult to land in.
The English rain and the scrambled eggs are symbols of English culture invading the plane - a metaphor for colonialism if you're curious.
There was some definetly good imagery and description in this poem, and I really enjoyed the first three stanzas. However, the last line just threw things out of whack. To me this poem was about a bombing or something of that nature, and the last line just threw me way off balance, and I don't know what you were trying to achieve with it. Just get rid of that line and it's a very nice piece of poetry!
Really nice job. I'm not sure what the subject matter is, I will admit, but you have great imagery here.
The one part I didn't understand/really much care for was the English rain when they are not in England reference. Was the intention to be that the rain is really heavy and dreary? It was an interesting image, but unless England has to do with the place where they are coming from I don't see how it ties in.
What exactly does Kaitak refer to? I looked it up and all I got was Kai Tak International Airport in Hong Kong, and that was there until 1998. What exactly is this poem about?
In any case, it was a great piece of work.
*thumbs up*
~GryphonFledgling
A bit confusing, but it has great imagery. I can picture most of it in my head.