Chris Hardy
A Valuation.
A heavy spring shower sweeps
Between the parking meters.
These small bowls
For drinking tea
And the pots for brewing
And for the leaves
Were made in China
About 1890
Yes handpainted
This particular design
Was to comemorate
The Dowager Empress
These have the light blue
Background
Yellow is better
They go well in Singapore
Not so well here
Made for the Nonya market
The Chinese who left home
To work in the peninsular
When we opened up
The tin mines
And planted trees
In the jungle.
Your Secretary
Who had a squint
Gave them to you
As a goodbye present
They must have come
From a family chest
And they’ve been hidden
Ever since
Pretty things too good to use
Covered in birds and flowers.
The dial on the meter
Says my time is up
The cars pour south
Across the river
Where the Docks are shut
For good
I’d throw out everything
If I could.
Page(s) 116-117
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