Vacation’s over

Having left to get out of the fog,

We approach the bridge in gloom.

Speechless, we watch gray loom in the Golden Gate,

Thinking of next year, our long long wait.

Aquatic park: San Francisco

Protected by piers from rough water
Old swimmers brave the chill
Find their stride,
While I
Seeing waves easy rhythm
Am too cold to make it mine.

USS San Francisco

Standing on your bridge in the fog
Seeing shells holes ripped each way
I think on a clear day
War would make me most afraid.

San Francisco’s radiance

This city’s killer light
Reminds us of divine sparks and beauty in us
Smothered by fog
Tortured by wind
Again and again.

Lone mountain college

The poor can’t afford to study in you,

But we ponder your beauty,

Vowing to endure dark days,

Until fog lifts, and we stand, gloriously in the sun.

Glaring

This dazzling light overwhelms us.
Having come here to be somebody,
We realize we’re nobody.

We drink to feel right,
To feel godliness we fail to realize,
In this city where God is always right before our eyes.

Half full

Seagulls don’t complain about the wind,
They let it take them higher.
We use wind to inspire
When we dress for it,
Marvelling how gulls drift.

Stowe lake

Gray streetcar slinks through fog.
Faces bleak as the day.
Reminding me we aren’t free.
Making me want to seek Russians,
Ask at Stowe Lake if they think we are free, if we still have a great nation.

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Spreckels lake

Sutro Tower looms in background, receiving signals from the gods.

When radio-controlled boats rock the water,

I yawn, drift, nod.

Sunbathing

Woman on Potrero Hill
Gazing at Twin Peaks
Would love to take her bra off
Soak up that Mission sun
Lie on her back
Free from attack.