a father's son

today was wonderful. i met wendy at an art gallery off chinatown in the hopes of finding black and white photos for my new apartment. by having the contractors build up two walls to form a corridor, I have grand hopes and dreams of having a gallery to call my own. really, all you need is two walls and good lighting. and of course, photos. the photo exhibition however disappointed. somewhat uninspiring. so we were quick to exit and walk through chinatown, along pagoda street. it was then that i ran into Andrew whom I kept calling "uncle" during the first 15 minutes of our meeting. Andrew has a little makeshift stall where he sells photographs taken by his late father. his father as it turns out was a noted photographer - a recipient of Singapore's prestigious cultural medallion. the photos - old, almost unrecognisable pictures of Singapore in the 50s through 70s - caught my eye and brought me to Andrew. these photos were what I was looking for. perfect for my manufactured walls. I take the greatest delight in all things old. Pointing to a photo of two children running under a palm tree, Andrew interpreted the view his dad framed through his camera lens decades earlier. He said something about man being a child of nature. My imagination was captured. I was soon even more elated to discover that the man talking to me was also a poet. "I write poems too," I said. He was as excited as me. He called me a colleague and fellow writer before hurrying aside to grab a paper of freshly penned words. I read through it and thanked him for his generosity. I am told that his father's photos have poems that come with them. His poems. my heart felt tender just knowing that so much of his father fills this man. yet, he is his own man. and he is his own man, yet. i caught myself calling him uncle and it felt wrong. and so i asked for his name and discovered more. he writes poems and loves his beers, especially beers in China where he calls home three months in a year. and beers that cost 40 cents, he said. i paid for my three photos... and wanted to give this man a hug, but I refrained. i was going to see him again.