Fiction: Group 2
The Pearl River Delta
Harrow International School Hong Kong, Wong, Alyssa - 10, Fiction: Group 2
am the Pearl River Delta.
I am becoming more polluted every day,
In days long past I used to be as beautiful as can be.
Now they pour filth into my waters, smog into the air,
It is as if nobody cares.
Thousands of fish, unique and defined, they used to lovingly swim here,
When the polluted water was much more clear.
The moon, the stars and the sky,
Would all reflect upon the shimmering surface here, shining and bold.
Pipes, like hollow serpents, lead from disgusting factories spread out far and wide,
Chemicals and waste seep into the water, so much more every single day.
I am hazardous to their health like an infection, a disease people say,
If only they would help me,
The smog would not be so suffocatingly thick,
Their fresh produce would sell out in a flash, quicker than lightning.
The fish would come back, fill up the rivers like peas in a jar.
Yet I flow like a slithering snake, creeping through all of China while millions of people waste,
On the water floats the bloated and rotting bodies of thousands of fish,
No one turns an eye, no one bothers to wish,
That if they didn’t use me as their trash heap then the murky water would not even be like this.
According to legends from the ancient times,
The four great rivers of China,
Yellow, Black, Long and I,
Used to be the four children of Jade dragon,
Who transformed themselves into rivers so that the people of China could have clean water,
Although our once pristine waters are now filled with trash,
And we all feel sicker every single day,
Our spirits still remain.
So help us get better, just one person could make a difference,
A few even more.
So do your part, help resurrect us, it would mean a lot.
And every one of our spirits would all be at peace.
I
