duality

Vitoria looks through the rear window of the cab in which she sits
the rain beats a constant rhythm on the roof
every time it slows to a stop, she hears the white-noise of the rain on the road outside
the city gleams in the night
people move under their umbrellas
take shelter under doorways
a city she has never been in before
that none of them had ever been to
it could be anywhere
Europe, Oceania, North America
before they all went their separate ways, they researched this city as much as they could
knowing everything there is to know about it without ever having been here
memories of satellite images
photographs
explicit descriptions of streets and buildings
it gives her the haunting feeling that she’s been here before
her will feels weakened
she wants to slump back in the cab and sleep
only the thought of seeing Seoul again keeps her awake
and the sound of her friend’s music in her ears

the cab pulls to another stop at a set of lights
outside a small girl stands beneath the umbrella of her mother
their eyes meet
– i could be you
Vitoria whispers
– i could be you, with a life – a whole life
– wondering where this woman in the car is going