To and Fro in Greater Berkland

Hand drawn temporary

shop sign

1.

Into borderland

Berkeley-Oakland

 a pound of Max's Blend

and a cup of coffee

at Cole Coffee

One thinks,

ummmm

Hot cross buns,

Someone has nice

calligraphy

 La Farine

a fine French bakery

I was seen here frequently

when I lived nearby

Irish need apply

themselves

to this radiant

soda bread

Now it's BART

covered in advertisement

Felixa

the Tom cat

Lottery

attack ads

 are ubiquitous

Back to the lanterns

of Old Oakland

and dig this vehicle

Oh I dig your red red bus

He acted natural

like, of course

you want a photo

Last Winter sunset

poignant

meaningful

Pillers of light

buttress the clouds

fleeting architecture

2.

Rainy Tuesday

and yet

loads of errands

All signs are frightening

A substratum

the signage

of dread

Another look

at the Long Haul

in the rain,

During the Occupy era

UC cops raided the place

 on a flimsy pretext and

 confiscated their hard-drives

for a fishing expedition

Cops just grossly violate

constitutional rights

with lawless impunity

and then leave the mess for the DA

to sort things out

on the victim's dime

Used to be a Deliverance center

Now it's Self-Realization

Corner of my old street

I'm down here again

Southside Shattuck

to visit the "Aquarium"

for herbal Fish food

Electric music

for the mind and body

Drive-by shooting on MLK

the way home

via the 12

Soon all of the

 decaying urban cavities

layered with  graffiti

will be massively replaced

by apartment blocks

Update:

RAY's seldom mistaken

Today I drive-by snapped

this side of things,

That sign behind the poll

is for the forthcoming

chunky apartment building

coming soon

Open today's mail at home

gathered at my P.O. box

downtown Berkeley

Including a book of poetry from

Gerard Malanga,

a gift for my articulation

of admiration for him

on social media

Poet,

widely published photographer

of the New York art demimonde,

Warhol's assistant who screen-printed

his multi-million dollar works,

principal dancer in

The Exploding Plastic Inevitable

with The Velvet Underground

And I was soon to learn

today was his birthday

18 March 2018

20 March 2018