Feel like some window-shopping,
Should I take the Vette?
The Piedmont
an avenue, a part of Oakland,
a town unto itself
Used bookshop display
Right this way, says Frenchie
the noir past
always with us
the noir past
always with us
Let's give it the double-O
Artsy middle class part of town
Rally for Bernie is planned
The warp and weave
of the place is apparent
Giant sunglasses for sale
that sort of thing
High-brow movies
Helen Mirren looking very focued
You know that it's serious
They could work on their lettering
Colorful pachyderm
seeking your acceptance
All the color and splendor
Of an evanescent middle-class
Still quite fond of La Farine
walnut-raspberry whole wheat scones
I patronize the one on College ave
Look who's here at the book zoo,
Bill Burroughs and Charles Gatewood,
Hardbound, not first edition
Spring is busting out all over
Wonder if it's a brothel
Issues,
a store specializing in magazines,
Cover-boy Sex Pistol Steve Jones
Looka real odd survival
Humidor-style woody
But the tobacconist is closed today
Sturdy canes and walking sticks
To bat away nightmarish cars,
But I'm looking for matchsticks,
Quality smokers' matches
Classy ashtrays
and assorted bric-a-brac,
For the anglophile tobacco addict
Glass portal
to a time-worn worm hole
Sid bled for our sins,
So let it bleed, you devil
Nomination for the freakiest mural,
Female wolf spirit shows white folks
the damage they done
The missionary friers gave the native brave
Levi dungarees to conceal his shame
Evil Spaniards ripped off their souls,
Some ashamed local went a bit further
and tried to scrub away his nudity
Black and white crosswalk,
Odd ethnic notions abound
He was once a major sideshow attraction
He could roll a smoke with his mouth
His chopstick technique was a wonder
There is a kind of a feng shui
a happenstance symmetry
to the commercial neighborhood,
It is not without a certain charm
11 April 2016
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