[INCIDENTAL] “The Hong Kong Signs Series” by Alex Przybyla
- Introduction: Crafting the Hong Kong Signs Series [LINK]
- Poems and signs: 4 signs, 4 poems
🌻 Hate not life buoys and other small beginnings (Hong Kong Signs 一)
🌻 After Fiery Chariots Depart (Hong Kong Signs 二)
🌻 WARNING (Hong Kong Signs 三)
🌻 Mightier Seas (Hong Kong Signs 四)
- Poem without a sign: 1 poem, no sign
🌻 The Brothers / Mo To Chau (I) (Hong Kong Signs 0)
- Signs without poems: 6 signs, 0 poems (unwritten second half of series)
🌻 The way home (Hong Kong Signs 五)
🌻 Lying alongside and the tyranny of purpose (Hong Kong Signs 六)
🌻 Guardians should be good-looking, Sei says (Hong Kong Signs 七)
🌻 All your sand and sweet potatoes (Hong Kong Signs 八)
🌻 Do (not) stray in(to) the [light] [dark] (Hong Kong Signs 九)
🌻 Maps are [for reference only] [poetry] (Hong Kong Signs 十)
Hate not life buoys and other small beginnings
(Hong Kong Signs 一)
THE LIFE BUOY IS TO BE USED FOR
RESCUE PURPOSES ONLY. DAMAGE
OR THEFT OF THE LIFE BUOY WILL
RESULT IN PROSECUTION…
Who am I to criticise its worn and weathered state?
Its purpose is not aesthetics to please me
Or perfect mechanics to persuade me
Or flawless theology to awe me.
It is humble and unassuming
Well designed for one thing only:
Saving the lives of little ones like me.
Cling to me, all ye with no other thread of hope.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Namu Amida Butsu…
And the worn weathered buoys of life float ever on and on.
Original sign
Spotted on the Wan Chai waterfront promenade,
near the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
After Fiery Chariots Depart
(Hong Kong Signs 二)
PLEASE BE REMINDED THAT STRONG WIND
AND NOISE MAY BE ENCOUNTERED WHEN
THE HELICOPTER LANDS AND / OR TAKES OFF
IN THE GOVERNMENT HELIPORT
EXPECT THE PEACE TO BE DISTURBED ONLY
MOMENTARILY AS THE VEHICLE ARRIVES
IN WHIRRING METAL AND BLAZING FLAME
TO TRANSPORT SAFELY THE HEAVEN BOUND
SILENCE WILL RETURN QUICKLY AFTER THE
FIERY CHARIOT DEPARTS. WE WILL BE GONE
WELL BEFORE YOU HAVE DECIDED WHAT
TO BELIEVE TO REMEMBER AND WHAT NOT
Original sign
Spotted at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre heliport
on the Wan Chai waterfront, near Golden Bauhinia Square
My photoshop edit
WARNING
(Hong Kong Signs 三)
DIRECTIONS BEFORE DEPARTURE
…………………………. DO NOT STEP ON A MOVING GANGPLANK
…………………………. WHEN THE FERRY IS ROLLING HEAVILY
…………………………. UNDER THE EFFECTS OF HIGH SEAS WAVES
IN THE EVENT OF DISASTER WHILE AT SEA
…………………………. IF EXTERNAL CONDITIONS BECOME ADVERSE
…………………………. PASSENGERS WILL REMAIN UPON THE FERRY
…………………………. THROUGHOUT THE DURATION OF THE STORM
…………………………. YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO BECOME ALARMED
…………………………. AND SHOULD WAVES OVERCOME THE FERRY
…………………………. AND SHOULD YOU BE INJURED OR EVEN DIE
…………………………. ON THE SEABOTTOM KINDLY QUIETLY LIE
…………………………. AS YOU NOBLY EXPIRE PLEASE KEEP IN MIND
…………………………. THESE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE AFTERLIFE
YOUR INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE AFTERLIFE
…………………………. YOUR BONES WILL BE VENERATED FOR ALL TIME
…………………………. AS A VICTIM OF RAGING STORMS OR BETTER YET
…………………………. FOREIGN DESTABILISING GOVERNMENT AGENTS
…………………………. LIKE EUROPE OR JAPAN OR DEFINITELY THE U.S.
…………………………. REMIND EVERYONE THAT YOUR MARTYRDOM
…………………………. CLEARLY EXONERATES US FULLY OF BLAME
…………………………. (FOR WE NEVER
…………………………. …………………………. EVER
…………………………. …………………………. ……….EVER
…………………………. …………………………. ………………..EVER
…………………………. …………………………. …………………………EVER
…………………………. …………………………. ………………..EVER
…………………………. …………………………. ……….EVER
…………………………. …………………………. EVER
…………………………. …………………..EVER
…………………………. …………………………. EVER
…………………………. …………………………. ……….EVER
…………………………. …………………………. ………………..EVER
…………………………. …………………………. …………………………MAKE MISTAKES)
Original sign
Spotted at a ferry pier, probably in Tsim Sha Tsui,
though I don’t recall which one
Mightier Seas
(Hong Kong Signs 四)
PASSENGERS SHOULD TAKE CARE
WHEN CROSSING THE GANGWAY.
小心過跳板
THE SOFT LIGHT CAST BY THE DOVE
WHO HOVERS ABOVE WILL GUIDE YOU.
在鸽光里留
THOUGH STORMS ROIL TO YOUR LEFT
AND CHAOS CHURNS TO YOUR RIGHT
两旁大风雨
YOUR BRAVE LITTLE HUMMINGBIRD HEART
HAS NEVER KNOWN HOW TO SHRINK.
你大心没怕.
THOUGH YOU LOVED THESE WATERS
OF SOFT GENTLE GREEN
离这柔柔水,
YOU WERE MADE
FOR MIGHTIER SEAS
你去更大海.
Note on my Chinese: I think and write in Mandarin like a child. Although my proficiency is limited, I hope simplicity can sometimes carry its own beauty. Unfortunately, I can’t think or write in Cantonese.
(I think and write in 普通话 like a child; while my level is limited, I hope simplicity can, in some cases, carry its own beauty. Unfortunately, I can’t think or write in Cantonese.)
Original sign
I believe this is from the Star Ferry
The Brothers / Mo To Chau (I)
(Hong Kong Signs 0)
You scraped me down
to the marrow of my bones
and then called yourself
my protector.
You crushed my hills to dust
to take heaven’s shape.
A pile of tangles shorn
then swept away.
Wilds razed to make way
for your road from the sky.
Conservation Zone,
explains the sign.
Now, the project is complete.
Converted choirs sing:
“Now, this place is clean
enough to keep.”
The way home
(Hong Kong Signs 五)
Lying alongside and the tyranny of purpose
(Hong Kong Signs 六)
Guardians should be good-looking, Sei says
(Hong Kong Signs 七)
All your sand and sweet potatoes
(Hong Kong Signs 八)
Do (not) stray in(to) the [light] [dark]
(Hong Kong Signs 九)
Maps are [for reference only] [poetry]
(Hong Kong Signs 十)
How to cite: Przybyla, Alex. “The Hong Kong Signs Series.” Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, 4 Nov. 2026, chajournal.com/2026/11/04/hong-kong-signs.
Alex Przybyla is a poet, writer, and translator currently based in Los Angeles. He spent ten years in the furniture industry in Shanghai and Hong Kong, where he called first Wan Chai and then Luk Tei Tong home. The poems in “The Hong Kong Signs Series”, published in Cha on 4 November 2026, were written mostly on ferries or ding-dings. Przybyla‘s writing has appeared in Reactor Magazine, The Bangalore Review, California Quarterly, Eunoia Review, and The Ekphrastic Review. He recently completed a master’s degree in creative writing at Harvard Extension School. [All contributions by Alex Przybyla.]