Building Toblerone Bridges

The inside and outside of Japan
There is the “us”—uchi
Then you have the “outsiders”—soto.

Polite social white picket fences—Everytown, America
Pointed facial twitches and insubstantial stares
Breath caught, backs straighten
Do not cross here or other places. 

The limitless imaginary borders on paper
Made by white men in European rooms
Ruler straight barbed wire lines across Asia and North America
Blindly chopping up Africa—colonies and nations—severing tribes. 

Our warnings of transgressing boundaries
Opinions hitting us like jet streams of air 
Words—languages—nudging us away and apart 
The rancid bitterness of prejudice. 

Here I stand
There you are
I wave to your response
Over a chasm of politics and prejudice. 

I would build a bridge of Toblerones
Shiny bright yellow
A monument of melted chocolate
Ignoring our division.