Diamond Grill , livre ebook

Fred Wah s Diamond Grill is a small gem of a book... from unpunctuated prose poems, recipes, and excerpts from research materials, to beautifully detailed descriptions of the restaurant itself, funny and warm character sketches, and philosophical musings upon anthropology and identity.
-Quill Quire
... a sophisticated and moving text... Wah has produced a memorable account...
-Canadian Literature
This collection has been written with delicate precision, and Fred Wah, who takes great care in reproducing his family histories and mixedrace heritage, delicious foods, seasons, and community life, makes the Diamond Grill come alive.
-Pacific Reader
Intimate, moving, funny...
-Calgary Herald
... Fred Wah s Diamond Grill serves up a tasty literary entr e-as well as providing an entrance to a world about which we need to know if we re to understand ourselves.
-The Vancouver Sun
What a joy it is to read his beautifully written sentences, filled to bursting with well chosen language.
-Ruth Raymond
S ELECTED WORKS BY F RED W AH
Faking It: Poetics and Hybridity . Edmonton: NeWest Press, 2000.
Alley Alley Home Free . Red Deer: Red Deer College Press, 1992.
So Far . Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1991.
Music at the Heart of Thinking . Red Deer:
Red Deer College Press, 1987.
Waiting for Saskatchewan . Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 1985.
Grasp The Sparrow s Tail . Kyoto, 1982.
Breathin My Name With a Sigh . Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1981.
Owners Manual . Lantzville: Island Writing Series, 1981.
Loki is Buried at Smoky Creek: Selected Poetry. Vancouver:
Talonbooks, 1980.
Pictograms from the Interior of B.C. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1975.
Earth . Canton, N.Y.: Institute of Further Studies, 1974.
Tree . Vancouver: Vancouver Community Press, 1972.
Among . Toronto: Coach House Press, 1972.
Lardeau . Toronto: Island Press, 1965.
Copyright Fred Wah 2006
All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior consent of the publisher is an infringement of the copyright law. In the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying of the material, a licence must be obtained from Access Copyright before proceeding.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Wah, Fred, 1939-
Diamond Grill / Fred Wah. -- New ed.
(Landmark edition)
First published: 1996.
ISBN-13: 978-1-897126-11-0
ISBN-10: 1-897126-11-5
I. Title. II. Series.
PS8545.A28D52 2006 C813 .54 C2006-903399-4
Board editor: Doug Barbour
Cover and interior design: Val Speidel
Cover photograph: courtesy Fred Wah
Author photograph: Don Denton

NeWest Press acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Edmonton Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program ( BPIDP ) for our publishing activities.
NeWest Press
201-8540-109 Street
Edmonton, Alberta T6G 1E6
(780) 432-9427
www.newestpress.com
2 3 4 5 09 08
PRINTED AND BOUND IN CANADA
C ONTENTS
I N THE D IAMOND , AT THE END OF A
M IXED GRILL IS AN ENTRÉE AT THE D IAMOND
T HE MUFFLED SCRAPING OF THE SNOW PLOW DOWN
Y ET LANGUAGELESS . M OUTH ALWAYS A GAUZE , WORDS LOCKED
D IRTY HEATHENS, G RANNY E RICKSON THINKS OF THE C HINESE
C HINESE SAUSAGE ? W HEN I M IN CHINATOWN I SEE
T O TOP IT OFF , HIS BIRTH CERTIFICATE HAS
D AD DOESN T COOK MUCH WITH GINGER BUT WHENEVER
O NE OF THE FIRST TIMES I BECOME HIM
T HEY WOULDN T SPEAK TO ME UNTIL AFTER YOU
5:30 A.M. BY THE TIME HE WALKS INTO
W HENEVER I OPEN UP FOR HIM (SO HE
I GUESS HE S PEEVED ENOUGH AT ALL THE
B Y THE TIME HE GETS OVER FEELING SPOOKED
H IS MOTHER S FAMILY ARE STERN AND RELIGIOUS S COTS /I RISH
T HOSE DOORS TAKE QUITE A BEATING. B RASS
T HESE STRAITS AND ISLANDS OF THE BLOOD CAN
P ONG SHOWS UP AT ANY TIME IN THE MORNING
F AMOUS C HINESE R ESTAURANT IS THE NAME OF A
O NCE IN THE NEW WORLD , THE IMMIGRANT CAN
C ABRI QUOTE
A S SOON AS THE CAFE OPENS AT QUARTER
T HE SILENT ANGER SIMMERS , OVER SOME FAILED EXPECTATION
I TELL HIM IF HE GETS HER A
A T THE FRONT OF THE D IAMOND G RILL ARE
S HE COMPLAINED , MY MOTHER SAYS OF G RANNY E RIKSON
T HE R ACE TRACK? S WEDISH , C HINESE , S COTTISH , I RISH , C ANADIAN
H ANDS ON THE MOVE , AND WITH ONE OF
O LD MAN H ANSEN COMES IN AT TEN TO
I M FAIRLY BLOND IN GRADE FOUR AND STILL
S TAINLESS STEEL ALL ALONG THE SODA FOUNTAIN , SILVER
B UT I M HALF S WEDISH . M Y MOTHER WAS BORN
M Y SISTER SAYS TOMATO BEEF IS ENOUGH TO
T AKEOUT AT THE D IAMOND IS USUALLY JUST SANDWICHES
B UT POOR M OM . S HE KNOWS THE GIRLS DON T
S HE CRIES FROM ANGER . T HAT S WHAT SHE TELLS
O N MY S WEDISH SIDE I FEEL MORE GLOOM
I M A CHINTZY TIPPER IN RESTAURANTS BECAUSE I M
T HE WAY WE SERVE MILK AT THE D IAMOND
D ON T CUT YOUR FOOD UP ALL AT ONCE
B ETTER WATCH OUT FOR THE CRAW , BETTER WATCH
H E WOULDN T GO BACK AGAIN WITH NO CHANCE
F LORENCE WAS THE CASHIER AT THE R EGAL. G OOD
L UCKY J IM ALWAYS HAD A BIG GOLD-TOOTHED SMILE
H OW TO B EAT THE G AME (B UT FIRST WE LL TAKE THE NATION
F AKING IT FROM ALL THAT LANGUAGE , IN THE
M Y FATHER PLAYS MAH-JONG AND FAN-TAN
W HEN I SIT ON ONE OF THE STOOLS
I N N ELSON MY FATHER JOINS THE L IONS C LUB
Q UITE SUDDENLY LO BOK REAPPEARS IN MY LIFE
S ITKUM DOLLAH GRAMPA W AH LAUGHS AS HE FLIPS
T HE C HRISTMAS BEFORE HE DIES HE COMES TO
L AST C HRISTMAS WHEN I GRABBED YOU BY THE
T HE LOTTERY , PAK KOP PIU , IS A HUB
W HY GRAMPA EATS SUCH MUCK , OR DRINKS IT
R ICE IS WHITE RICE , POLISHED , AND , IF COOKED
D ONNA M ORI S SHIFT STARTS AT SEVEN
AFTER THE WAR , J APANESE -C ANADIANS CONTINUE TO LIVE
T HE BEST TIMES IN THE D IAMOND ARE AROUND
M Y DAD HALF JOKES ONCE IN AWHILE THAT
A FEW YEARS AGO I CAME UPON SOME
S ALISBURY STEAK , A PATTY OF GROUND BEEF MIXED
I M JUST A BABY , MAYBE SIX MONTHS (.5%)
C OURSE AGAIN , NOW , WE RE TALKING A DIFFERENT GENERATION
W HAT ANIMA GETS THROUGH THE FAMILY GHOSTS IMMEDIATE
T HE W AH FAMILY REUNIONS ARE USUALLY DURING THE
W HENEVER WE ASK A UNTIE E THEL ABOUT C HINA OR
T HEY RE OLD AND SITTING ON THE COUCH AND
W HEN E THEL BROKE HER HIP , IN M OOSE J AW
A FTER OUR FAMILY MOVES OUT TO B RITISH C OLUMBIA
W ELL , R AY , THE OTHER QUESTION I M KIND OF
T HE EARLY MORNING RUSH IS OVER BY 7:30
M Y FATHER NEVER SCREAMS. W HEN HE GETS MAD
U NTIL M ARY M C N UTTER CALLED ME A C HINK I M
W HENEVER I GO TO HIM , STRAIGHT , THERE S NEVER
T HE DOOR TO THE KITCHEN COOLER IS JUST
H E NEVER GETS BLUE . H E LL GET RED WHEN
L OOKS LIKE IT S GOING TO SNOW ALL DAY
T HE COFFEE URN S A BIG STAINLESS DOUBLE WITH
S PRING , S TANLEY C UP PLAYOFFS , YOU AWAY AND YOUR
I COMPLAIN TO MY MOM ONE NIGHT THAT
T HE PASTRY COOK IN THE D IAMOND IS ONE
I BUST MY ASS TO GIVE THOSE KIDS
I T COULD BE AS IRRELEVANT AS POUTING EACH
O N THE EDGE OF C ENTRE . J UST OFF M AIN
D EEP FRIED WHOLE ROCK COD IS A SPECIAL
T HE COOK S ANGER , SCOWLY. B ACK BEHIND SOME UNCLE
T HE STOVE AT THE D IAMOND IS A BIG
S ALESMEN START COMING INTO THE KITCHEN AROUND EIGHT
A ND YOU, OLD, MUMBLING TO YOURSELF S WEDISH GRAMPA
T HE DOORWAY TO THE BASEMENT IS TO THE
T HE CAFE ITSELF IS A LONG, NARROW ROOM
W HAT S ALREADY IN THE GROUND , ROOTS OF ANOTHER
I CAN ALWAYS TELL , WHEN OUR FAMILY WALKS
A ROUND QUARTER TO TEN THE MORNING COFFEE RUSH
A NOTHER CHIP ON MY SHOULDER IS THE APPROPRIATION
T HE DISHWASHER IS A THIN , OLD MAN WHOSE ONLY
E VEN THEIR DARK EYES . A KIND OF AFTERBIRTH
T HE SAFE IS IN THE OFFICE AND THE
I N OUR FAMILY WE CALL IT GIM JIM
C HINESE HEAD TAX PAID OUT LAND GRANTS TO
A FEW YEARS AGO I GET HIS GUN
S TRANGE TO WATCH YOUR CHILDREN S BLOODS. L IKE ONE
L AKE LINK. A SMALL BEACH ETCHED OUT FROM
M Y WIFE S GRANDPARENTS HOMESTEADED THIS PLACE. H ER GRANDFATHER
I HARDLY EVER GO INTO K ING S F AMILY R ESTAURANT
T HE POLITICS OF THE FAMILY
T HE C HINESE BANQUET AT OUR FAMILY REUNION IS
U P FRONT BETWEEN THE DOOR AND THE SODA
I T S A SMALL COLT PISTOL . I KEEP IT
S OFT ICE CREAM HITS N ELSON ABOUT 1953 BUT
B ETWEEN ELEVEN AND NOON A LULL IN BUSINESS
M Y DAD S FAVOURITE SONG ON THE JUKEBOX IS
A NEW MENU EVERY DAY. S OUP DU JOUR
I M NOT AWARE IT S CALLED TOFU UNTIL AFTER
T HE VINYL FLOOR IN THE CAFE HAS TO
Y OU GET TO KNOW THE TIPPERS. I F THEY
T HE RUSH HOUR AT LUNCH TODAY IS MORE
Y OU NEVER TAUGHT ME HOW , BUT I REMEMBER
B ESIDES THE FOUR MINIATURE W URLITZERS STATIONED ON THE
W HO IS HE , THIS GUY WITH SMILES AND
T HE GATES TO THE KITCHEN ARE THE SAME
J UST ANOTHER TIGHT LIPPED HIGH MUCKAMUCK RECEPTION LISTENING
W HO AM I I THOUGHT I MIGHT SAY
J UK IS A SOUP WE ALWAYS HAVE AFTER
T HE NAME S ALL I VE HAD TO WORK THROUGH
C ELLARS ARE COMPLICIT WITH GRAVITY. A N ENTIRE TOWN S
T HE N EW S TAR IS ACTUALLY OUR FIRST CAFE
H IS FW SIGNET RING ON MY LEFT LITTLE
H IS HALF-DREAM IN THE STILL-DARK BREATHING SILENCE IS
Y EARS IN THE NEVER-ENDING AFTERSHOCK REVERBERATE ON AT
H E USUALLY PARKS BEHIND THE CAFE . C OMING DOWN
Afterword
R E-MIXED: T HE C OMPOUND C OMPOSITION OF Diamond Grill
S OME USEFUL REFERENCES
I N THE D IAMOND, AT THE END OF A
long green vinyl aisle between booths of chrome, Naugahyde, and Formica, are two large swinging wooden doors, each with a round hatch of face-sized window. Those kitchen doors can be kicked with such a slap they re heard all the way up to the soda fountain. On the other side of the doors, hardly audible to the customers, echoes a jargon of curses, jokes, and cryptic orders. Stack a hots! Half a dozen fry! Hot beef san! Fingers and tongues all over the place jibe and swear You mucka high!-Thloong you! And outside, running through and around the town, the creeks flow down to the lak