Union Square Xmas

The Flaneur received an early Christmas gift this year, can you guess what it was?

I love a deserted arcade-- closed on Sunday

They're now selling penguin meat in supermarkets
--how ghastly

The Glitterati

Once upon a time in the lobby of the St Francis Hotel

The light and the dark side of Union Square

Everyone was having a good time under the tree

even the perfume spritzers were laughing

Bruce Springsteen and family joined the holiday skaters

Sunny and warm as only a California drought can be

A Yuletide blast-off for young and old...

The band played all the old holiday favorites like

"Brand New Leopard Skin Santa Hat"

The maw of Macy's
holiday shoppers buzz the hive
On the crowded sidewalk a little boy stopped me
 by holding a plush toy snake up to my crotch.
He giggled with delight as Mom herded him off
while avoiding eye-contact with me. 

So I tucked into a nook on a side street of my mind for a cup of cheer

and a peaceful smoke with some suave old pals of mine

Coming soon the ecclesiastical side of Xmas.

22 December 2013

Thanks to
 362 Dada Fund for Surrealist Research
for the new camera

The AntiChristmas

The Flaneur notes the current degree of morbidity in Hollywood's exploitation of the disaffected.

At Christmas this grotesque billboard showed up in low-income Hispanic neighborhoods where the majority of people venerate Mary as they celebrate the birth of Jesus. 

Along Telegraph avenue on Berkeley's south side, there was less to be said.

Same building.
A cool guy in a blue leather biker jacket walked into the shot.

Crown Beach Christmas

The Flaneur tunneled out to Alameda for a Christmas Day peaceful and mild

Coots aplenty congregate on the expansive lawns 

yet another splendid day showing signs of drought

I brought a Yuletide picnic of roast chicken & yams, olives, triscuits,

 and most delightful of all a large bottle of Santa's Little Helper imperial stout

The Bay was as calm as the sea at Cadaques

the water's membrane was like a silky rug

A lonesome conga player iterated at the marina

when he stopped the silence was all-encompassing

To the East a father and son with an electric wand

searched for precious metal in the sand

And in among the wild reeds a little barefoot girl 

her purpose as instinctual as the birds overhead

She performed a ritual dance with the dry reeds

in front of an immensity with no horizon

 For a moment the girl, the reeds, and the immensity

comprised the whole world

She selected just the right reeds with great care

and then she disappeared again

Running down the beach with her reeds

as industrious as any creature building a nest

Curiosity naturally prevailed

I  ventured in toward the other side of the reeds

There stood an elegant teepee

or was it an abstract Christmas tree?

The sculptress herself cast a geometric figure

seemed happy I was there to see her work

A deep peace descended on all of us

as we went our separate ways in the silence

This was of course her Christmas celebration and blessing

and I carry it on here in transit to you

Afterwards things turned chiaroscuro 

and the coots took shelter in the shadows

Across from the Coast Guard recruiting station 

 I waited for a bus alone with the Evening Star

25 December 2013