a little poetry as the seasons shift…Robert Hass from “The Beginning of September.”
X.
Here are some things to pray to in San Francisco: the bay, the mountain, the goddess of the city; remembering, forgetting, sudden pleasure, loss; sunrise and sunset; salt; the tutelary gods of Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Basque, French, Italian, and Mexican cooking; the solitude of coffeehouse and museums; the virgin, the mother, and widow moons; hilliness, vistas; John McLaren; Saint Francis; the Mother of Sorrows; the rhythm of any life still whole through three generations; wine, especially zinfandel because from that Hungarian wine-slip came first a native wne not resinous and sugar-heavy; the sourdough mother, true yeast and beginning; all fish and fisherman at the turning of the tide; the turning of the tide; eelgrass, oldest inhabitant; fog; seagulls; Joseph Worcester; plum blossoms; warm days in January.
you can read more of this long and lovely poem at the Library of Congress…though the line breaks of this prose poem are all messed up. if you can get your hands on the slim volume called simply Praise, it would be worth your time.
more good things to read at ladydusk.
I read this poem to Jack and he said, “Don’t forget the bridge!”
how does Jack know about the bridge?! such a cosmopolitan boy!
I like how a list of attributes give you a sense of the city. Thanks for sharing; certainly nothing I would normally come across.
Maya Angelou in the elevator (ok it was Oakland)…Bruce Cockburn music on the bay bridge…turning around on the Golden Gate due to lack of funds…and so many more memories shared with you…