The 8.23 arrives
Doors open
The throng moves as one
Pushing, manoeuvring a space
Seating a premium
Handholds, chrome rails and posts.
Familiar tune rings out
Doors close
We breathe as one
Shoulder to shoulder
Nose to nose
A germs playground.
By weeks end my throat hurts
My nose runs.
Next stop ‘Wasabi, Wasabi
Change her for the Toku Tobu line.’
A crowd moves forward exits
A crowd moves in, a seat is vacated
I sit, happy to not be hanging on.
Around me commuters
Sleep, daydream, stare
Read books with no covers*
The train speeds to the next station,
The ritual exit entry begins again
Repeated all day everyday.
- I recently spent two weeks in Tokyo and used the trains a lot. Many people read but they place paper covers on the book they are reading for privacy reasons. So you see a lot of people reading but you never know what.
- It is a beautiful city inhabited by the most polite and clean people you could imagine. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.
Written for: http://dversepoets.com/2014/12/09/city-songs-for-poetics-2/
Morpethroad 
So glad you enjoyed your holiday Michael. It would be a wonderful place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there. I don’t like people that much lol.
Yes well you’d struggle Jackie as there are a lot of folk living there, but very nice folk I have to add. Thanks for dropping by.
I love the way you conveyed those subway trips. I am glad you enjoyed your stay there. My brother has friends who lived in Japan for three years. They also found the people to be polite, clean and respectful.
I should also add very patient with those who don’t speak the language. Thanks Gabriella, have a good day.
I have only visited Tokyo briefly a few times.. and I mostly managed to avoid rush-hour.. I wonder what people are really reading.. You might wonder if it’s erotica or romance.. 🙂
Yes one does wonder, in lots of cases it is a graphic novel style of book. People there work long hours, at 10pm the train could very well be packed. Thanks Bjorn, have a good day.
Japan is a country that I have wanted to see for as long as I can remember, but haven’t had a chance yet. Imagine my jealousy when my sister got to go there for 3 years to teach English!
Part of my visit was to go to school one day with my cousin who teaches two days a week. Teachers are the same the world over, over worked, happy, keen and enthusiastic and kids are pretty much the same wherever you go, though somewhat more polite than many I have taught.
it is a singular feeling isn’t it – Speeding along like peas in a pod.
What an expressive piece !
Thank you so much, peas in a pod is a very real way to describe it….but in Tokyo it is a way of life and people adjust to the hustle bustle of it all.
nice…i love riding public transport…ha…seeing all the people…when i lived in baltimore i used to ride the train in…it is easy to get lost in that flow of people in and out…all the masses….tokyo would be such a cool trip…i have not made it to asia…and i would so love to.
Thank you Brian, it is well worth the effort.
That’s interesting about the books being covered. My dream is when my book gets published I would see everyone reading it on the train. But today people read electronic books.
It is almost universal in Japan to cover your novel. I’d agree with you.
This put me in mind of the Metro in Paris–only the cleanliness might be a bit of a contrast, at least
if I think back on how it was when I lived there in ’71.
Just yesterday Victoria. It was certainly an experience traveling around each day.
You have really captured the big city flavor of train travel here, Michael. Shoulder to shoulder, nose to nose —- each ride the same, and a bit worrisome in flu season. Smiles!
In Japan it seems one person in three wears a mask to ward off disease or prevent others catching what they may have. Thanks for the comment Mary.
Well, that is something I have never heard, people covering their book titles rather than displaying them ostentaciously, LOL. I know that crammed feeling of city transit, oy! Horrible when one has to stand, swaying and jerking……….
You are very correct in the swaying and jerking, plenty of that, though on the trains you may get an announcement to say a sway or jerk is coming up.
i like how you breath as one and it’s a ritual, kind of like group yoga.
popsicle on a stick
Thanks for your comment. Not sure being there could be equated that way but I understand your point.
breathing together and ritual is poetic, sounds like yoga. that’s what i mean. i grew up in NYC. i know it’s not like that in RL.
Ok I get cha.
how cool that you had the chance to visit… fun with the paper covers around the book but knowing a bit about the japan mentality i can surely understand… the paris metro during rush hours is a bit like this as well
You’ve captured the essence of short distance train travel well, Michael. But, better you than me. I really don’t like metro train travel at all. Next stop ‘Wasabi, Wasabi. Change her for the Toku Tobu line. Do they really have a station called Wasabi?
Yes they do and I smiled every time I heard it announced.
I wondered if it might just have been your homemade remedy for getting rid of any flu you might have picked up. I know Wasabi just about takes my head off if I eat it 😀
Your trip to Tokyo has resulted in so many posts where you have shown the different facets. Lovely poem!
Thank you so much praj, as you can tell I had an excellent time in Tokyo.