Osaka’s cityscape blurs inside the taxi.
A surreal moment on a rainy night.
Midnight looms as people’s lives streak by
as my taxi navigates the wrong way 
down a one-way street shortcut to a 
bridge spanning the Yodo River.

I stare out at the distant unfamiliar night, 
the moon reflected in the black water. 
A familiar yet strange place,
home for now, but tonight disconnected
and searching for the id left behind...
identity replaced by involuntary transformation.

Not unlike the boy in Bradbury’s “Fever Dream”, 
I’ve awakened at a blinding crossroads 
of awareness and self realization.
At my destination, I open the cab door,
step out into the cleansing rain,
and slowly walk into the hotel. 


© 2020 Gregory Vessar. All Rights Reserved.