Everyone shows up in neat dresses,

eager to catch up on the old days.

Yet our precious heart-to-heart starts with who just bought a bigger house,

and who can now kick an intern out like a fleck of moss.

But as soon as the wine warms us,

you start railing against the curses

of a lifelong mortgage and the boss’s crown.

We claim the drink is for our friendship,

even if we taste loneliness on our lips.

About the author: Yun (Richard) Song is a research postgraduate student from Lingnan English Department. His research interest focuses on travel narratives, particularly as they are performed within cross-cultural and transnational contexts.

Judge’s comments: “‘School Reunion’ expertly conveys an undercurrent of pathos and dissatisfaction that unfurls as the poem progresses. I especially like the specific evocations of corporate toxicity, evident in lines such as ‘who can now kick an intern out like a [fleck of] moss’ and ‘a lifelong mortgage and the boss’s crown’. Such images encourage us to ruminate on the nature of disconnection, missed possibilities and wanting.”

—Natalie Linh Bolderston