鴛鴦 HK Milktea by P.K. Leung, read by Christina Wong

P.K. Leung, or Yesi (也斯), as he is known by his penname, is one of Hong Kong's best known writers. Paying tribute to Hong Kong's cultural hybridity and its unique identity is a concern that runs through his entire work and that is also central to this poem: Mandarin Ducks (yuanyang 鴛鴦), an allegory in Chinese painting and traditional poetry for an inseparable romantic couple, is also the name given to this beloved Hong Kong beverage that harmoniously blends different flavors and worldviews.

Mandarin-Duck Milk Tea

Five different types of tea leaves,
brewing a strong, aromatic tea. Using a cloth pouch
or the traditional silk stocking to gently hold the mixture,
pour the liquid into another teapot,
see how the brewing time alters the
strength of the tea. Does it still hold its aroma? What if

the milk tea was mixed into a cup of coffee?
Might that strong-flavored drink be so overwhelming
that it wipes out the other? Or, the mix
might create another kind of flavor:
the food stalls on the street -- their makeshift stoves
emit a mixture of reason and worldliness
everyday's gossip springs knowledge,
diligence paired with a pinch of chaos,
these are the flavors that can't be easily described.

Recorded on 2/26/2011 during Macalester College Concert Choir performance of Songs of the Earth

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Entertainment

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• 鴛鴦HK Milktea by P K Leung
• read by Christina Wong