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Contests : Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest : Past Winners : 2008 : High Distinction
HICKORY DICKORY DOCK
Along the harbour it stands
White-faced, in a deep puzzle.
Tick, tock, tick sweeps its black hands
Spontaneously as usual.
Mounted there it does not comprehend
When it has become suddenly special.
Splashed by waves, confronted with gales,
For decades it stations at the dock.
Hickory, dickory, dock.
Hickory, dickory, dock.
Children sing while frolicking,
Telling and creating tales.
Businessmen in suits tread hurriedly,
Workers with tired sunburnt faces wait longingly,
Old men read their newspaper leisurely,
Young couples hand-in-hand stroll aimlessly,
Dressed-up ladies flip concert programmes elegantly,
And tourists click their cameras frantically.
He comes and goes,
She ages and grows,
Footsteps accumulate,
Its existence becomes accustomed.
Only until today we appreciate
And pay pilgrimage before too late.
In such paradoxical position it lies:
Packed with pilgrims bidding goodbyes,
Caressed by the concluding stares of admiration,
Cradled in the catchy lights of commercialization,
Sunbathed in dazzling flashes of cameras,
Submerged in searing shouts of visitors.
All of a sudden,
The blue railings of which we were unaware,
Every step of the stony stairs,
Every corner of the green pier,
The grey fan, the sign of fare
Become photogenic and full of flair.
Isn’t it a paradox?
Hickory, dickory, dock.
History, outdated or not?
Memory, lasts or be lost?
This poem won a High Distinction award in the 2008 Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest sponsored by Tom Howard Books. Author Joanne Lau received a $200 award. Winning Writers assists this contest. Copyright is reserved to the author.
About Joanne Lau
I am a 24-year-old law student who studies in Hong Kong. I am currently doing Professional Certificates in Laws after taking a postgraduate Juris Doctor degree in law and majoring in politics during my undergraduate years. I've been a leisure reader and amateur writer of poetry since university, but this is the first time I've entered into a poetry competition. This High Distinction Award means a great deal to me because I have no professional training in poetry writing and I have no idea if my work is of standard. All I know is that I am fascinated by the power of words: expressive and infectious. Therefore I write whenever I have strong feelings about anything around me. I wrote this poem when there was a major outcry among the community demanding the government to stop the demolition of the Star Ferry Pier, a 49-year-old landmark of Hong Kong embodying its colonial history. This conflict between urban redevelopment and preservation of cultural heritage inspired me to write about the problematic nature of the past. This award gives me recognition and encourages me to continue writing and pursuing my dream of publishing a collection of poems!
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