Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Strolling Oakland: Piedmont Dead End













26 years old
    1839






Not to appear a lone haunter
of boneyards




On a late Spring day
I wanted a solitude
and a lawn where I could
discretely remove my shirt








In America
it's customary
to wave the flag
from Memorial day
'til the 6th day of July






Normally I whistle past this place












The guardian balloons closed in on me



It was like a sixties
secret agent TV show
from the UK



The balloons seemed to exude
a viscous membrane



I pushed my way inside



I heard a feint chuckle
then what sounded like
an old old woman weeping




Up a flight of stairs
I heard a consort of viols
playing incredibly
melancholy amorphous
baroque music



I pushed my way out again






As I emerged
a table with tablecloth
came rolling toward me





An earthly enigma
like a magic trick
table-knocking
apparition wearing a shroud
A séance in broad daylight






It was with relief
I escaped the precincts
of the Chapel of the chimes





I found myself in a deep
rhododendron grove




A rousing fountain
in front of a faux façade





Not to sound all
Blair Witch Trail
But it was only later
in image capture repose
that I saw the bicyclist


1874- age 68





Not to sound morbid
but it's a location
to which we all are bound



Another enigma




26 was the age I was
when I first moved
to the area
This is an odd expanse
of Mountain View
only two or three headstones
on an otherwise vacant slope
Very early interments
from the imaginary
nineteenth century






Eventually
my complete peace
was shared by a young family
remote and inaudible





June 2017






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