Monday, March 23, 2015

Long Walk North












The Flaneur walks for miles in sandals,
having refused to enter the perplex
of public transportation re-routed by some smug footrace,
to reach symphonic moments in a church North of the Estuary




1.
Lakeside





A lovely day for walking neither hot nor cold,
The charming desuetude of the old urban center
A twenty foot fanlight from yesteryear





Immense clouds stacked over Lake Merritt
View from courthouse plaza





This indigo flower sends me
The color here approaches what the eye sees





In direct sunlight photos come out thus
Lovely but somewhat washed-out color






This is what I'm talking about... kind of,
The largest planting of this flowering shrub I've seen







The roadway was half closed and as I walked here
An absurd solitary pooped-out runner came by
Accompanied by her own police car crawling behind
As she cleared an incline I called, "You got it, baby"
She seemed to weaken, slowed to a walk







 Eucalyptus de-contextualized by its own shade
A beautiful girl in a sexy swim suit
Was having her photo taken by a small crew,
Afterward she changed in a little nylon booth 
Concealment making her even more charming,
Dreams are made of this






A journey of a thousand steps
Made fascinating by the abundant sky






Scottish Rites Temple
Another colossal artifact of secular quasi-religion







Appropriate for this Sunday in Lent,
A Jerusalem pine,
Saint Paul's must be just around the bend









2.
Saint Paul's Episcopal Church






They made him look very Jewish, 
Paul was a demagogue at the stoning of Stephen,
Both are Baptismal names of mine,
I had an ass-kick Damascus experience myself,
Mary Fabilli said I was a martyr, seriously






High windows, 
The Prometheus orchestra tunes up






The second piece is the heart of the concert for me
An Adagio by Mahler
The conductor describes it as spiritual,
As evocative of thoughts of one's past






One was able to feel elevated to the level of rapture,
A strange final dissonant note not withstanding,
Some prescience of the difficult listening to come







Lamb of God
You take away the sins of the World
 Grant us Peace







The concert resumed with
Manuel de Falla's "Three-Cornered Hat"
Balletic dance themes, the uplift of Spring







 

Blessing all who come into His house,
Whether they know it or not








To everything there is a season, 
And straight is the gate 
To the great outdoors







Time for me to climb back into the boat
With the good Saint Timothy






The clouds over the Estuary had altered themselves
A higher strata prevails, a cooler front came in,
Seagulls circle at various altitudes,
Somehow connected in a vast mobile 













22 March 2015


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