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August 26, 2012
Walking In - 8/22/12
The cathedral bells ring 9:00 am and pigeons and crows explode from the bell towers
No foghorns today, sadly
The crows call through thick fog as I pick my way through surreal gardens
the work of the mad gardeners of Telegraph Hill
Juniper, Date Palms, Ficus, and Hydrangeas.
Narrow crumbling wet brick steps and cold steel handrails
Agapanthus, lemon trees, and orange roses.
What's so sad is that I grew up around these plants and never knew and never cared
Fuchsias and banana plants and flowers I used to know
Periwinkles and ivy
Seagulls cry as a tugboat pulls into the Embarcadero
Angels Trumpet and hummingbirds and tarnished workers chatting in Mexican
Above Julius Castle I watch a container ship slip beneath the bay bridge
On his way back to Asia
Baby Tears and Princess Flowers and bees and hummingbirds
Marbles and glass set in concrete and porcelain
Hidden gems tucked away in fog-shrouded hills
Wild ripe blackberries fresh off the vine and two very German tourists
Now Levis plaza and other humans
Morning commuters walking in modern mines
Their ancestors mined coal and silver and we mine data
Completely different but exactly the same
They stuff their kids into daycare and hit the gyms
Riding bikes to nowhere before tall lonely mirrors
Pigeons fighting on market street
A homeless man on a bicycle
Civil defense sirens rust atop city's buildings
Rusting away from the war that never came.
Posted by Rob Kiser on August 26, 2012 at 6:16 PM
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