COVID
Cold as it is, but devastating as if an
Ominous roar from nature.
Virus gone “wild” because
I, a sinner ever hurts nature,
Deserves such karma.

 

 

 

 

Fun (Janeiro)

Joy imbues every corner
While walls are dressed in red for the Rat
Laughter here and there
And nothing seems fearful
Several deaths start chiming the toll
Yet far away to touch our toes
We heard lives taken away for some unbeknown
But still glad awaiting the songs of Spring
People make jokes on the Wuhan folks
Mocking their blasphemy on their unforbidden forks
Wait, haven’t we known this acquainted guest?
Once was known as lethal gas
Hong Kong remembered him as our nature’s debt
While Macau was blessed the “lotus land” survived a dreadful chance

Fear (Fevereiro)

Footsteps stomping but where is he?
Doors closed; border shut
But where is he? This invisible man
We hear you knocking of our door and several have been taken away
But our guardian HO¹ halts the act. He says “Stay home; wash hands; mask on”
Repeated warnings fill in the air while people panicked with scare
Is it time for the apocalyptic? No one knows
We fear because we don’t know
Now shutdown is only word we do not NOT know
Ever known of its Saint Paul Ruins and Oriental Monte Carlo
sadly finds no shadows of any acquaintance
One laments “人無千日好”
HO echoes “花無百日紅”²

Anger (Março)

Numbers, like boiling water, keep surging
feet, like mobiles, keep marching
Believe it or not
Binding your feet equals saving your ass
Believe it or not
Freedom equals death
Yet believe it or not
China makes success
I want to see the truth through a window but how is it possible?
There are only lies upon lies and sacrificed innocent lives
Everyone is enraged – asking agnotologic questions to fill up the voids
Wild animals? Bioweapons? Accursed humanities?
All ended in viral racism and collective debts

Despair (Abril)

Eventful April should be filled with hope
But the arrival of Easter brings no Pope.
The drizzling of Ching Ming, however, says “it is time to visit the dead”
And yes, so many out there shall have experienced death
When there are not enough white angels to save our lives
We light up candles to chant in posthumous nights
How soon can we cease to see obituaries?
Perhaps they all become our painful memories
Can we still see one another?
This question does not seem to have an answer
Farewell to those good heroes lost in the battle
I close my palms wishing them “一路走好”³
Shantih, Shantih, Shantih⁴

Hope (Maio)
Como está, Coloane?
A long forgotten greeting to você
你真的好嗎?
Your colors of red and green gave me a good answer

I am glad to meet you again
And please pardon for my long absence
The plague serves us all a good lesson
And now we know nature is the key to enlighten

How are you, 路環?
A good old friend I truly desire to embrace
Está bem?
I think we all still owe you a good answer

I am shameful to see you again
But please excuse my short presence
Your breath gives a good cautionary tale
And now you know human is the kind to fail

Life and Death
Good or Bad
Love and hate
Heal or die
If there is hope in May, I hope May is the time to liberate…

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Notes

[1]  Mr. HO Iat Seng is the incumbent Chief Executive of Macau S.A.R.
[2]  Originated from 元．楊文奎 《兒女團圓．楔子》： 「人無千日好，花無百日紅。早時不算計，過後一場空。」
[3]  Have a smooth good journey after one has passed away. R.I.P.
[4]  An appropriation from “The Waste Land” by T. S. Eliot. In Sanskrit language, Eliot refers to “Shantih”—repeated as here, a formal ending to an Upanishad. “The Peach which passeth understanding” is a feeble translation of the content of this word.