SUTTER STREET 1989

I gazed out the window on a foggy SF day
Down from a seedy motel by the Tenderloin way
Watching the vultures circling and rolling by
As the low did try
To live a life of absolute despair
No hope no care
To have nor to share
How can you begin to imagine the life
Lived by the one born of strife
The burden of every second of being
The inside from the outside’s tendency
To burn and hurt and pick at the scab
Created by the stab
Of a needle
Into the skin that holds her in
Keeps her from falling apart into the incinerator
With the other trash
Which she has become
But how
How did she get here
I rest my head on my arm as I gaze down
And watch the predators’ circling around
As the children grabbed by the arm are dragged down
From the fun of the stoop
To sit in a room coop
Waiting for mom to return with some food
Please God not another dude
My spirit so buoyant and free
Feels the weight of sadness, death and disease
For empathy can sometimes be a curse
Feeling only the worst of the worst
Seeing the face of the beautiful girl
Destroyed by the cards dealt by the world
Seeing this man led by the bottle into the room
With only shame and relentless gloom
Watching from this window of mine
Seeing the thieves the swine
Steal the pathetic scraps from those with none
Who scarce remember the warmth of the sun
On their face
This place
Suddenly the world did move
My God! You’ve come to prove
The Truth! The Light! The Glorious Way!
For those of us held at bay
From the buffet
Of life
Of love
Find sure feet couldn’t be done
What to do? Be still? Run?
As quickly as it moved, it grew most silent
With clouds of dust shaken and spent
Over the emerging masses congregating on the street
Some of which did never before meet
Before this time of collapsing bridges and buildings
The sun’s light is waning
The electricity is feigning
The darkness envelops a city indeed
But who will take this city block and lead
That man led by the bottle emerges with a light
To guide lost souls in the swathing night
To safety steering past ill
Those would rob and steal
Look! Listen! The ho!
With the radio
All gather round to find out the scope
Of horror and damage and level of hope
But on this street at this time a great thing did occur
Living dead with respect hope did stir
With a purpose given
Life worth living
A daily earthquake prescription.