This poem was writtten in early spring, after trekking around Tokyo's Ueno Zoo in the rain. The cherry blossoms that sweep across Japan in a front were beginning to burst forth and I was feeling distinctly melancholic; being so far away from home and having just walked around the zoo with only an umbrella for company.
The animals were sodden and looked sad in their enclosures. I felt their sadness and the weight of my own distance, yet was also pleased with myself for having made it so far and managed to stay in a country and culture so different from where I'd grown up. After leaving the zoo, I sat at a cafe outside, ordered a coffee and a couple of slices of pizza and was compelled to write a poem about the experience.
The animals were sodden and looked sad in their enclosures. I felt their sadness and the weight of my own distance, yet was also pleased with myself for having made it so far and managed to stay in a country and culture so different from where I'd grown up. After leaving the zoo, I sat at a cafe outside, ordered a coffee and a couple of slices of pizza and was compelled to write a poem about the experience.
Ueno Melancholia
There's a certain sadness to zoos in the rain,
A feeling that's hard to pin down.
Perhaps the weather reminds me of England,
And only serves to enforce the distance.
The prime attractions were placed at the front,
Like sweets in a supermarket display.
Their coats monochromal extremes, no blending,
Yet containment just muddies the poles.
A Tokyo boy and his prospective mate,
A female from Mexico City.
Will they get it on like so many wish for?
Pandas step to a whole different rhythm.
The lions inside displayed their majesty,
Despite the truth of their captivity.
They slipped in the mud as they gambolled around,
Either fighting or playing, yet through instinct.
Elephants were hidden from public display,
A fact of their current reconstruction.
And speakers in trees played out 'Auld Lang Syne',
As I was bowed at and escorted to exits.
The melancholy hangs like a force overhead,
Or the boughs that are laden with blossom,
Yet spring is arriving, with sunshine and laughter,
No more sadness, like zoos in the rain.
A feeling that's hard to pin down.
Perhaps the weather reminds me of England,
And only serves to enforce the distance.
The prime attractions were placed at the front,
Like sweets in a supermarket display.
Their coats monochromal extremes, no blending,
Yet containment just muddies the poles.
A Tokyo boy and his prospective mate,
A female from Mexico City.
Will they get it on like so many wish for?
Pandas step to a whole different rhythm.
The lions inside displayed their majesty,
Despite the truth of their captivity.
They slipped in the mud as they gambolled around,
Either fighting or playing, yet through instinct.
Elephants were hidden from public display,
A fact of their current reconstruction.
And speakers in trees played out 'Auld Lang Syne',
As I was bowed at and escorted to exits.
The melancholy hangs like a force overhead,
Or the boughs that are laden with blossom,
Yet spring is arriving, with sunshine and laughter,
No more sadness, like zoos in the rain.
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