Cheong Yi Heng 2B/06

This poem is about how nature in the botanic gardens is kept in an artificial reserve by man, and comparisons of its factors with the natural environment. The artificial reserve attempts to emulate the conditions of high altitude places.


[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g8/yiheng_326/1.jpg[/IMG]

The Air They Breathe is Stale

Since their day of birth
They have grown and aspired
To reach out to the sky
Like their brothers on high

Since their day of birth
They have wearily thirsted
For a drink of mountain spring
To hear the water sing

Since their day of birth
They have dearly yearned
For a breath of mountain air
The winds of peaks so fair

Yet
Their growth is not their own
If they reach out they are stunted
By unyielding shears or by cold hard glass
Their hopes be torn asunder

Yet
The water they drink is not their own
When they sip they choke
Our foul concoction smothers them
Like a liquid smoke

Yet
The air they breathe is not their own
The air that they inhale
For all this, we simply know not
The air they breathe is stale

Cheong Yi Heng 2B/06