Tuesday, October 14, 2014

CHINA REIGN

by David Feela


Protesters in Hong Kong continued to demand a fully free vote in elections due in 2017 for the post of chief executive - Hong Kong's leader. Numbers were, however, far lower than the previous week. China has said that, under Hong Kong law, voters will be able to vote freely but from an approved list. --Photo by Philippe Lopez/AFP via BBC Week in Pictures


As shelter from Beijing weather,
the hand that holds the umbrella knows
repression shreds all hope

but in Hong Kong each umbrella blossoms
like a flower, shields the blindsided from mace, 
transforms the protester into a shadow 

under Xi Jinping’s glare.  How the years 
of bad luck for opening an umbrella 
must be weighed against the threat 

of living where truth never shines.
Remember this season of umbrellas,

this garden of good intentions.


David Feela writes a monthly column for The Four Corners Free Press and for The Durango Telegraph. A poetry chapbook, Thought Experiments, won the Southwest Poet Series. His first full length poetry book, The Home Atlas appeared in 2009. His new book of essays, How Delicate These Arches  , released through Raven's Eye Press, has been chosen as a finalist for the Colorado Book Award.