Friday, May 29, 2015

RAY Marine Transit




Clear skies ahead


More than a month's worth of waiting for a sunny viable day, 
a May crossing at last


1.
Sea Dog


 The clouds shattered beatifically
And formed scintillating fractal patterns






The fish of the sky,
I cast my net wide





 The elegant new eastern span of the Bay bridge,
Turned out to be a lemon




 Another extraordinary day on the bay






 We enter into San Franciscan waters
Fantasy as reality






Underneath the bridge







 It's really a form of flying




 The city, we draw near





 Pull in here momentarily




 Then back out on the open Bay





 Few had foresight enough to launch today,
Everyone else's loss, it's brilliant





 The obligatory image of the harbor seal colony




 Nutty, windy little artificial island,
It's a restaurant to putt over to in this little craft




 Pardon our suds




 2.
Wharf Rats



I've been avoiding this guy





 Ah, the pleasures of the harbor




 Along the sidewalks
Of Fisherman's Wharf
They'll sell your heart's desires to you




 Rule of thumb:
Go when you have the chance
(Men's room in National Parks visitors center)




 3.
Artists


 

 Inside the Prismatarium







 Large whale on canvas





 An exhibition of contemporary artists' responses
To the WPA, to the Maritime Museum
And to color theorist and pop-surrealist
Hilaire Hiller who designed this joint










 This guy made himself a crown





 Wearing an elaborate version of the crown
He paddles out into the North Bay
And is never seen again
An industrial harpoon embedded in his board 
Was later recovered






 Another American flag expressed 
Through some amusingly novel process






This guy wanted to become his own sailboat






 To see if he could still float,
While taking directions from the wind






 A ship painted in silly string
Melted sugar skull impasto






 This guy used his grant money 
To throw himself a formal dinner,
At least he made that enormous photo print as well






What would Hilaire think of this latest iteration?







A moment's reflection on the patio
With the sound of the nearby surf







I reach quantum nautical density







And spiral back to the shore




4.
 Voyager



My foot in the cold waters of the Golden gate






A beautiful, reaffirming day at Aquatic park




All the more charming because it's deserted,
I have broad expanses to myself
In the most expensive city in the USA





Now a brisk undertaking 
Of my long hike back to the boat,
Here comes an antique street car




Walking, walking
Here comes another vintage street car






Don't want to miss the five o'clock boat,
Don't want to have to spend the night on the Wharf,
Eating junk food and sleeping in some dungeon








No need to worry,
All is well, and turns out well
The peril of going out on rough cold water is behind me,
Across the Bay the inexorable marine fog
 Has taken back the imagined city









28 May 2015

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