A View of Kwai Chung


Eastward of the Pearl River lies Kwai Chung,

At the junction of North, South, East and West,

Where cargo ships, towering cranes and busy quays  

Give substance to global trade's grand purpose, 

As well-wrought verse to our language lends.


Container ships deep-laden with cargo,

Land and lift their goods in perfect order,

And by their arrivals and departures,

Give cadence to our ambitious trade, 

Which, like the poet's metered word, does flow. 


I see such raw beauty and hope unveiled,

Amid that storied realm of concrete and steel. 

My dreams, the ancient traders’ dreams unchanged,

To thrive in the flood of trade’s rubato,

And live as sweetly as the poem lives.

Location: Hong Kong, China

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