A glorious morning fell upon me
as the sea dust settled in new lungs
and the travail of San Francisco miles,
more over stretching to the sky
than any earthly span could be imagined
when, quite suddenly, I was greeted
by the clarion call of children frolicking
nearly half a block away
It brought a smile to my face
.
I took the burdened strides, bearing
the weight of my children, a bevy of notebooks
strapped to my side, and delighted
in this "New and only hope for our world"
as the paces were met, step by step
I turned the raw iron cage in which they raptured
.
Horror of whores! A grand thing strikes my eyes,
and I would have been blind at that moment, if only
for the lost future, to find a massive porn emporium
directly across the street

This is a San Franciscan legacy? I may as well
be in the Tower District, Fresno; where daycares
straddle bars and garbage trucks pick up
milk cartons in the same vulture's swoop
as beer bottles from the old future
.
A junkie begs change half a block away,
he will give head to a fat man later for a twenty
Once upon a time he could have been a great artist
For now I sympathize, for all too often
I've thrown my pearls to swine
in San Francisco's gleeful decadences