Open Your Eyes and See
26 May
In here like an ant I rest, until the next stop, meters below the ground, I travel looking at them who in turn look back to me. No one to talk to, no one to smile to. An individualistic life, a being, a breeding host, traveling together and apart, at the same time.
I ask myself whether this is normal, or maybe if it is the way it should be. I try to make contact, but I fail for a dream it remains. I alienate myself through music, the same music they play whilst coldly looking back at me, as if mankind does not need to communicate anymore. So in silence I observe and write.
Then a smile from an elderly person, as warm as the suns’ rays in August, a smile that brings hope, that not all is lost.
5 Responses for "London Tube"
anzi they smiled at you
In such a short text you have managed to capture the cold individualistic nature of urban life in modernity and post-modernity.
I felt alone within all those people traveling with the same medium, going to different directions, all with one objective. It was like a really bad dream but one that has influenced me to think about something more deep. Society diversification.
I could’ve written your thoughts… I was told that it’s just not safe to draw attention by looking. The same thing was going on in Amsterdam just not this bad… Since being in London I have seen with my own eyes what a simple stare could cause… Just one example: someone was beaten unconscious about a meter away from me because of eye contact.
I too have the same kind of contact with old people or children, it’s because they’re pure and open. It’s sad but that’s how city life is and hopefully one day I can get away from it
ps. no it’s not normal…
Yeah I did pass through certain parts which were really not welcoming however it helped me write this and feel that sensation of insecurity. It was good though and weather was freezing
well I would visit London again because it does have its own character.
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