Table of Contents

Preface by Rosanna Wong, President, Hong Kong Schools Music and Speech Association [5-6] Welcome, 11; For The Record, 12; Root support, 13-14; Red, 15; Chunam Plaster, Pokfulam Road, 16-17; Old Men's Beards, 18; Waiting for Deliverance, 19; Chinese Gardening, 20; Material Souls, 21; Blue Blood, 22; Life-saving Face, 23; Tobacco is an adult habit, 24; Survival, 25; Comparing Notes, 26-28; Sartor Resartus, 29; The Exemplary Expatriate On A Monday Afternoon At Four-Thirty P.M., 30; Janus, 31; Misfit, 32; Everything Has A Price Tag, 33; One Pearl, One Plain, 34; A Place On The Bus, 35; Sign, 36; Discrimination, 37; Newsworthy, 38-39; Help, 40; Good Luck A Local Product, 41; Rain, 42; The Creator Commands His Own Creation, 43-45; Second Thoughts, 46-47; Temptation, 48-49; The Reason For It, 50; Bringing In The Tea, 51; Exit, 52; Moon-Shine, 53-55; Ching Ming Festival, April the Fifth, 1991, 56-59; Swallows, 60-61; Expect it hot, 62-63; Differences, 64-66; Vision, 67; Shatin Crossroads, 68; Approaching Tai Po Highway, Speeding Home, 69; Graduation, 70-71; Early morning at the (University of Hong Kong) campus is a special world, 72-73; Through Lion Rock Tunnel, 74-75; Memories Of School: Admiration, 76-77; Marital Bliss: Filed Away, 78-79; Consistency, 80-81; My Father's memories, 82-84; School-teachers, 85-86; Le Cadre Noir De Saumur, 87-89; Protection, 90; Death-bed Wisdom: I "Be ill in the Summer", 91; Death-bed Wisdom: II "Don't make assumptions", 92; There was a wind in the night, 93-94; The Other Families, 95-96; An intense desire to be oneself, 97-99; Holding Hands: I, 100-101; Holding hands: II, 102-103; Stripe, 104; Flower De Lune, 105; A Talk Given to the English Society of the University of Hong Kong, 19 April 2002, 107-114; Acknowledgements; About the Author; Notes, 118.

About the Author

GILLIAN BICKLEY, born and educated in the United Kingdom, has lived mostly in Hong Kong since 1970. Her books include China Suite and other Poems (2009), Sightings: a collection of Poetry (2007), Moving House and other Poems from Hong Kong (2005) and For the Record and other Poems of Hong Kong (2003), the latter two now translated into Chinese. She is the author of The Stewarts of Bourtreebush (2003) and The Golden Needle: The Biography of Frederick Stewart (1836-1889) (1997), and editor of The Complete Court Cases of Magistrate Frederick Stewart (2008), A Magistrate's Court in Nineteenth Century Hong Kong: Court in Time (2005; 2nd edition, 2009), The Development of Education in Hong Kong, 1841-1897 (2002) and Hong Kong Invaded! A '97 Nightmare (2001). Her poetry has been anthologised in Hong Kong, the Philippines and the United Kingdom & translated into several languages. Dr Bickley was Senior Lecturer / Associate Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at the Hong Kong Baptist University for twenty-two years. She has also held academic positions at the University of Lagos (Nigeria), Auckland (New Zealand) and the University of Hong Kong. She is now an Honorary Research Fellow of the Centre of Asian Studies, Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Hong Kong. She is a Council Member, Royal Asiatic Society (Hong Kong Branch). With her husband, Verner Bickley, she is co-founder of The Proverse Prize for unpublished writing.

Reviews

"Thought-provoking and entertaining." "Not even the American minimalist William Carlos Williams could zero in on and capture a detail with more panache." "Bickley succeeds in conveying the character of the Fragrant Harbour with humorous rigour." - David Wilson, Sunday Morning Post. "She skillfully fuses the human and the natural world." - David McKirdy, Asian Review of Books. "A perceptive account of life and people mostly in Hong Kong, rendered with empathy, humour and surprise." - Agnes Lam. "Gillian Bickley's version of Hong Kong is based on the knowledge gained as a long-term resident. She puts her findings on the record." - Andrew Parkin, Paris. "The poet's presence is tangible throughout, from poems on materialism to marriage, and expatriate life to the 1997 'handback - not Handover - to China'." - Madeleine Marie Slavick. "I had difficulty putting it down. In Bickley's own inimitable style." - Dr Dan Waters, author of One Couple Two Cultures. "Bickley's work is fun to read. She is an expatriate, but sometimes with a local perspective." - Cindy Yik-Yi Chu, Hong Kong Journal of Modern Chinese History."