The ink not too thick
The brush not laid too flat
The sleeve never touching the paper
My father always said
"Straight."
At dawn the gate opened
and people waited for my father
Silk collars
black official hats
low voices
quick steps
I followed behind him
and tried to copy even his walk
The elders of the house laughed
"That boy will hold office soon too."
I liked hearing that
I already believed
I knew
where my place was
One stroke not too long
one stroke not too short
If the ink bleeds, write it again
if a letter leans, write it again
My father said
"Look at the handwriting
and you know the man."
Straight
line it up
Straight
write the name
If it wavers
fix it again
On the paper
everything
finds its place
I memorised people's names
Who was from which house
who stood on whose side
where to say less
and in front of whom to smile first
Nobody taught me
I learned by watching
At the table
on the porch
after the guests had gone
people asked about the house
before they asked the name
That was only natural
I too
had a surname to go home to
One surname
two given names
lined up neatly under the brush tip
My father's
my grandfather's
One day
the place would be mine
That evening
my father brought in some papers
"Copy these as well."
I was glad
I sat up straight
and took the brush to the first page
On the first page
a name I did not know
On the second page
a name I did not know
On the third page
my hand stopped
It was the same
as the sentence before it
First page
Second page
Third page
Only the name was different
They lived in different places
held different posts
were different ages
but the crime written down
did not differ by a single letter
I looked at my father
"Do these men
know each other?"
No answer
After a moment
the brush moved again
I asked once more
"Then how is it
that their crimes are all the same?"
Straight
line it up
Straight
write the name
If it wavers
fix it again
On the paper
On the paper…
My father looked at my page
After a long while
he put a finger
on one wrong letter
"Here."
I wrote it again
My father said
"Good."
"Straight."