A visual representation of "Survival" by Gillian Bickley
CHAN Hiu Lam
Good Hope School
In my artwork, black and grey are chosen as the background colours to show the unpleasant conditions that the tree is living in. In contrast, the tree, which flourishes from a skull, is painted in vibrant and bright shades of green.
Butterflies and birds, which are presented in the form of skeletons, are flying away. This illustrates the line that ‘birds and butterflies – have gone’ due to the changing environment. But the tree chooses to stay. Despite the terrible conditions mentioned in the poem, the tree continues to grow and thrive amid the foul air and unnatural noise. The bright colours also represent the poet’s respect and gratitude towards the tree for its loyalty to this city.
I hope that humans can realise the damage they have caused to the environment and repaint our home with vibrant colours.
Survival
Thank you trees for being there, for staying
when many of the friends you knew─
birds and butterflies ─ have gone;
for flourishing, even; growing old
where concrete buildings
are constantly knocked down.
How brave you are to survive
in a place where the air is foul
and the noise unnatural;
you who should normally expect
to stabilise your roots
in humid humming forests,
alive with the smells of
animal and vegetable life
(not the smells of mineral death, as here).
It is good to look down a street
and, amazed, to see you there,
solid and green and cool, uncompromised
by the advertising posters on your boles;
a promise
that, since there was a past,
there may quite possibly be a future too.
1982
Gillian Bickley
“Survival” was first published in For the Record and other Poems of Hong Kong by Gillian Bickley, p.25. Copyrights© 2003 by Proverse Hong Kong. Reprinted by permission of Proverse Hong Kong. Please approach Proverse Hong Kong by email (proverse@netvigator.com) for permission to use this poem or others in the collection.