Tokyo Poem by john tiong chunghoo

A city of many many millions
A throbbing city with
A thousand dreams
And a painful past
Earthquakes, fires, killings,
Allied bombings, palace intrigues
Power struggles and
Religious persecutions
Never douse its forward
Matching spirit to the fore
Of technology, fashion, ideas,
Knowledge and world peace
A city that has astounded the
World with its mindboggling transformation
From feudal backgrounds to
Modernity and world's top in less
Than a century never
Fails to fascinate a foreigner
With its contrasts between
The old and the new
The Occident and the Orient
A geisha walking under her
colourful parasol
in the midst
Of modern skyscrapers
An emotion charged enka played
Amid catchy modern hits
Old Chinese inspired temples, jinjas
And pagodas with up-to-date facilities
The only city in the world
That forever renounces war
In its constitution
This is Tokyo, a city fortunate
Enough to have Van Goh's Sunflower
Nobel-prize writer Yasunari Kawabata
Oscar Samurai celluloid creator Akira Kurosawa
The blessings of Sungoddess Amaterasu
And auspices of the world's oldest monarchy
The next great earthquake
Predicted to strike anytime
Doesnt seem to dim the enthusiasm of
Its populace who seek out every
Inch of land here for
More development and......fun!