December 2021

I left the long queue my mother was in
For Cha Sui, Roast Pork Belly,
Already paid for,
To go to the shop on the second floor;
Maybe it sold packs of Pokemon Cards
And Shinies like it did before,
When I carried around a Game Boy Colour.

The white shop lights
Were just on me and this little
Boy with cheeks my relatives
Would love to pinch and stretch.
In mandarin he called for his mother
who I could not see.
Looking around I wondered if I would ever buy
A blue and white floor vase – dragon design –
Or a Feng Sui cabbage – the shiny
White stem – bright jade leaves –

“Water Sky” in Bristol had a bigger cabbage on display –
It was my twenty first birthday – mum and dad –
The ten minute wait for a table –
I heard loud conversations, in English and Chinese,
From the people sitting down, white China teacups
being stacked or passed around, lids put back on China teapots.
I wonder if I knew back then,
Here we all are from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan,
Malaysia, maybe Macao, England,
Sharing food, catching up.

Although I left the shop without buying a thing,
And “Water Sky” closed, re-opened and changed its name,
I was grateful for the walk down memory lane.

Sigh Wan