Nanjing Road Overload

Shanghai’s a colossal mindfuck, any way I assess it;
I feel ignorant here, and not afraid to confess it
Cause it’s obvious I’m out of my element
The language barrier is absolute
My communication skills crippled & defused
What few charms I have inevitably refused
My appearance drawing sheisty hucksters of ill repute
With the mantra I hear every time I step outside, in an endless barrage:
“you wan watch? Shoes? Dvd? Bag? Massage? Sexy Massage?”
26 times in 3 hours on People’s Square
I guess I do look like a sucker…must be the hair…
The skin…the eyes…the tongue…
The churning stomach and the assaulted lungs
The body hasn’t settled, hasn’t slept, hasn’t rested
And suddenly I’m somehow congested:
Everyone smokes everywhere, in elevators, confined spaces,
In banquet halls & restaurants,
Flaunting cigarettes and spewing clouds
In this alternate universe all the smokers light up proud
…..













What a place…
18 million strong and growing
A fluorescent skyline and crowded riverfront glowing
7 story neon coke bottles
Rude self-absorbed assholes I’d like to throttle
Disgustingly large malls and clandestine massage parlors
a country where the ambitious work for less and work harder
Hustlers & pickpockets
Bustling crowds & slick hawkers
New asian aristocracy meets crested western debaucheries
Steel and glass temple facades
In this world I cannot identify the Gods
This crossroads is ruled by powers I don’t know how to petition
I am not entirely capable of fulfilling my mission
What do I document when there’s so much I can’t understand?
The perpetual confusion of the clearly overwhelmed man?
This is the first trip, perhaps just a training
And the next time I’m here I’ll take up what’s remaining
And experience this world ready and willing
Right now these juices are still distilling…