Three Poems

A Chance Encounter at Peking Railway Station

When I enter the Office for the Old and Disabled,
They are all there to greet me,
Aunts, uncles, and even my ancestors.

Mr Chang enquires after the Ming bowl
From which he took his tea
In the fifteenth century.

I tell him that it is perfectly sound,
And that, on ceremonial occasions only,
We bring it out
To marvel at the fineness of the making -
How thin it is and so perfectly round.

My great-great uncle gives me a serious bow -
Which I return, of course, with due reverence.
He tilled his fields, day in, day out,
...