CHASING THE SUNRISE
dawning beyond distant dreams
alone I follow flowering rays
my path imbued with clarity;
the long road ahead
burns me up inside: I’m ready.
the sun calls me to the city
to its voice I must abide
passing parallels of radiance
shining as a sundry constellation
of individuality —
I feel it all so deeply, everything must change,
yet all I want or need
is a chance, a street, a sight that holds my gaze;
what veins lead to the heart
in this limitless maze
the center of Tokyo is wherever you are —
the beating heart of Tokyo’s the burning heart of me.

Tokyo sun —
a world that
when you feel there’s no return,
the start of my life, clandestine alleyways
drawing my eye not to hide but to know,
no feigning cavalier curiosity
when the unknown’s got its
grip on me
my future’s in those veins —
my need to feel their pulse,
imparting what I find.
All I can ask is what the hell do I do now,
for I’ve felt what’s out there in the
lonely purlieus where light is no weaker,
hope no fainter,
where the essence of a culture carries in the wind
rattling wooden floorboards
tapping like phantoms on opaque paper doors.

Brushing shoulders through Shibuya
catching echoes of my past
I’m home again, home again
with every step I shed the last
the sky feels alive, thunderous shaken,
the faces hold on, heads held high
they lookin’ with me up
toward never ending sky.

So much I don’t know ‘bout the world and myself —
but I can’t stop even if it hurts won’t ring the bell
for as I seek I’m touched by fire, truly,
as if for the first time every time
and it makes me wonder
what else is out there to discover?
Who could I be?
Nothing to do, nothing to see,
but people to experience age to be won
through walking the streets, smelling the sights
touching the trees.
By day, lines etch like wrinkles in towering wooden gates
bearing wisdom of the rain,
they too know pain
yet they stand tall knowing
that the sun will rise again.

Time is strange…
I got nowhere to be yet its passing I fear
I am where I am and from here can move.
Make the city yours.
I love it here, how? Why
has Tokyo changed me,
the only place right now that makes sense.
So I’ll go.
Imma get here don’t know how but I’m called, I’m runnin’,
gonna follow my dream to the city
where amongst countless eyes
gazing from a soul called i
i stand connected in style movement and energy,
outsider looking in don’t need to fit in to fall in
free fallin’ since the day I arrived;
years ago when I changed lanes and
found myself on the monorail
the sky sodden with gray —
I’ve never been the same.

Tokyo moon —
thinkin’ of you and what we
could be rollin’ solo through the city
I’m finally free
violet skies of dusk lighting me up
the world around me
is more than enough.
Reality so beautiful seen with eyes
of a child
a garden of roses
an ocean of smiles;
I hope they know how much I love ‘em
every soul that’s made
me who I am.
This is just the beginning,
the jump of the
gun and steps along darkening pavement;
got the weight of the world which everyday I push against
making me stronger, sharpening resilience;
shit’s sublime, the dirt beneath my feet
washing away the dust and pain the further I climb
I’m not gonna stop for my steps are
my art and my body’s gotta move
my eyes a canvas that rips me apart —
I can’t stand what I see — love in every seam
of the sentient sky
it cries and it rains and speaks our
melancholic voice,
Tokyo moon —
drenching each road in
a dance of white hot color,
shadows encased in silence,
doors knocked on by wanderers
who know not the dimension that beckons
from the other side.

The night air we breathe and let into our souls leaves
through our hearts and makes laughter of cold
outlined in breath stark against yellow lanterns
and grinning blue neon signs, solace from reality
where faces grow warm and red and beautiful
in moonlight.

These moments, seconds, they pass through us
and continue to live within us,
the people we meet and the smiles we share
and the unknown languages passed;
and the love in your eyes and the joy, the sheer joy,
for what we have and do.
The world goes dark no sunlight remains
only streetlights and beats from the songs that we play
in tiny ancient bars full of not but one soul
they carry me urging me on through the cold
to never stop walking, never give in
to the lust that drains
your desire to live. I’ll never give in.
Lust for the life with an answer at the end;
I only ask for more of the same, more love of life
more magic
more freedom
the rest of me’s gone
with the Tokyo sun.

TOKYO SUN

TOKYO MOON