Beatnik Halloween II

 Hipster 

a term favored today by the chattering class 

to label young alternative conformists,

Originally referred to pre-Beat Generation jazzbos

Burroughs called them "hipster be-bop junkies" 

mocked by "the hippies"

an identification much mocked itself

So after Punk, Hip-hop, Grunge

and Beat Generation revival fatigue,

Called the White Negro by Mailer,

The term Hipster back in town

 Phantom apartment building,

rebuilt after a fire
it remains vacant

The Flaneur was on the first 6 bus to be re-routed

when the First Congregational church caught fire recently,

Came up Dwight detour just as the cops were setting barriers on Dana,

It looked like an active shooter scene video,

After a stop at Patient's Care Collective I decided

to walk back downtown and saw the thick billowing smoke

as I crossed Dana on foot

Beyond its worship schedule,

First Congregational is used primarily as a classical music venue,

also for left-leaning lectures and the usual community church activities,

and for a thrift store which is where I understand the fire may have started

I have spent many hours there listening to Philharmonia Baroque

and countless visiting early music artists

The building complex comprises a beautiful architectural asset

and naturally the city is rallying to rebuilt whatever was lost

 

 Berkeley loves Halloween

everybody's high

 Looks awfully  familiar

my fellow nocturnambulist

 

 No worry beads

 The wolf must be allowed to howl

Man will have to atone for his sins

 No exit

no escape

Let them eat

Unicorn

Oogle these googles

 

 Beneath the sidewalk

 Underground Berkeley

Ghostly reflections

on Berkeley Way

Enormous flower

outside of an eye-catching

haunted house

 At night spectral figures

roam beneath vague high ceilings

and attempt to serve eviction papers

They're here

October 2016