[Poem 69] Straw Millionaire

One stop away by train
Beyond the long, long connecting bridge
Lay a city of the future I had never seen before
Rather than the future noodles eaten with a fork
The zaru soba by the Soviet Pavilion
Tasted many times better to a Japanese child

We have cold American water, just a little more
The man shouting repeatedly into the microphone
The faces, faces, faces in the fed-up long line
What came out of the water cooler was
The lukewarmness of Osaka
America tasted just like the tap water at home

What I felt like I saw from a distance
Was a moon rock that didn't even feel romantic
The time spent like ascetic training just to see this
The pennant souvenir chosen by my parents
The commemorative ticket stub and the holographic lost-child tag
These weren't the things I wanted

The Doraemon badge from the all-present giveaway was my only starting capital
Turning into cards, turning into badges
Do even things like this have value?
I was surprised that people who wanted them appeared one after another
It kept transforming until I put a stop to it
What!! Finally? Really? No take-backs

What I arrived at was
The Canada Pavilion pin badge
The moment I became the happiest person in the world
Why on earth did I want it?
Where on earth did it go?
Kamon-san must surely still have it

[Postscript]
While cleaning out my mother's vacant house, I found an EXPO '70 flexi disc
I was surprised that I still remembered the melody
Memories of the World Expo come flooding back
Fortunately, it was only one stop away, so I was able to go many times (Ah, my age...)
I thought the final day would be crowded, but the number of people was underwhelming
Had people already grown tired of it, or did many give up on going thinking it would be crowded anyway...

[Acknowledgments]
Chronotsukaya-sama
I used your photo
Thank you very much