You will step out onto the platform
into the humid embrace
of the summer afternoon
You will melt
as you melt into the crowd
of which you are a part
but from which you are completely apart
The streets of Shibuya
will suck you out of the station
and into the open air
Tokyo will scream at you
right to your face
You will smile
though you know she does not love you
she is always there for you
(13 August 2016)
Lovely image!
Thanks! I was watching a YouTube video of the Yamanote making its loop around Tokyo while I wrote this. When I lived there, I used to go to Shibuya almost every weekend, so it definitely got me thinking about summertime in Tokyo.
Beautiful <3 I like the use of verbage (is that a word? lol) here. By using the 2nd person and the ending -ing, you really engage your audience. Well done!
Thanks! The 2nd person came from the YouTube video. When I lived in Tokyo (almost 30 years ago), the announcements in both the train and the station were only in Japanese. Now they are also in English, with one of the things they tell you being which side of the train on which the doors will open. That got me to thinking of phrasing the poem as though it were a briefing.