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Senior Secondary



A visual representation of "Hero Tree" by Kit Fan

LAW Yuet Ying
Sha Tin Government Secondary School


Through my painting created in response to the poem “Hero Tree”, I hope to express my gratitude to the frontline medical workers. I appreciate and thank them for their contribution to the world.

In this digital artwork, both bright and dull colours are used. Bright colours are used on the girl, the flower and the imaginations, while dull colours are used on the hero tree and the classroom background. These two different colour tones are used to create a contrast between reality and imagination.

The main character in my digital artwork is the girl at the bottom right corner. She feels bored while attending an afternoon class. As she looks through the window, a red flower falls from the hero tree, landing on the edge of the window. The flower is shown to be trying its best not to fall from the edge, battling against gravity. Viewing this scene, the girl can’t help thinking about the frontline medical workers who work night and day to fight against the virus valiantly.

Hero Tree


From the classroom window,
the summer’s aorta revives in the dark
hero tree. Bark ideogram,
ember-tinted, no trace of leaves.
A family of four cicadas homes in
on its tall ebony nakedness:
something for a long summer song.

The white chalk stub U-turns
on the wide blackboard, hissing out
a map of Confucian morphemes:
stone-classics that were chiselled
for the eye looking straight into the heart.

Fans spin overhead, ripe dozy hours.
Our heads bow, fishing for cancelled
valleys lost to the Yangtze River Dam.

Kit Fan


“Hero Tree” was published in Paper Scissors Stone by Kit Fan, p.20. Copyrights © 2011 by Hong Kong University Press.