china in december 1994

we first visited china in 1994. as there were 17 0f us, we were one group by ourselves and had the services of an english-speaking tour guide. we spent about a week touring beijing and chengde.

it was the first time ida saw snow. for ivy, it was the second time, having seen it during our first visit to new zealand before ida was born.

i was inspired enough to write a poem which i titled:

"tiananmen"

the name evokes a sense of grandeur
not of beauty
nor of splendour
it pevades a sense of expanse and spaciousness

in my mind's eye i picture a stretching square
filled with a sea of bobbing hair
red flags swaying above the swarming mass
as the patriotic fervour charged the air

it would seem all the country was gather there
either for:
- a proclamation
- a demonstration
- or a rally call to the entire nation

i had to be there
to be at the square
the infamous square
to capture a morsel
of all the history that had been made there
as well as the future that it beholds...

i tried to imagine how i'd have been stirred
when mao perched at the top of the gate
uttered his godly words
then i tried to emphatise with those
embroiled in passion
misled by western notions

it was just like what i had seen in photos
huge portraits
hanging on the portals
gaint chinese characters bearing messages
extolling virtues, dispelling fears and dispair

this historic square
where history has been written
and rewritten with swords, guns and rifles
and lately with armoured vehicles
tiananmen square

i left my footprints there..
in the snow
on 22 dec 1994.