San Francisco Bay on an Afternoon in June

 

Nautical endeavor

leads to the sweet dreams

and deep sleep of the just

 

Too long have I waited

for the cold Spring weather to abate

The visiting hoards are here

 

But I design a picnic outing

without a great deal of involvement

with San Francisco foot traffic

 

I hadn't been over

yet this year

We are here to go

so here goes

 

 

 

Leaving the Port of Oakland

for a jaunty day on the Bay

 

 

Is it my imagination

Or are the current crop

of container ships

looking less full these days

Can it be the new trade wars?

We need that plastic crap

synthetic clothes

from China

 

A sexy teenager has decided

to crash out during the crossing

Doesn't bother to pursue the view

But I do

 

 

Shipping activity

is picturesque today

 

You might think

being on San Francisco Bay

would be stimulating enough

to keep someone awake

 

That's treasure island

a man-made extension

of naturally occurring

Herba Buena

 

Yes, good herb

proved a prophetic name

 

The line between the North Bay

and the silicon South

 

Sky crossing

Bay crossings

an everyday fact

 

Noir city

Lonesome town

oh how they come and go

 

 

Expanse of water and sky

made expressionistic

by wind-blown clouds

 

 

Here comes an emergency boat

patrolling the San Francisco harbor

Things can go wrong out here

 

 

A poignant cloud

straight above

our beavering boat

 

 

 

Look who's here

to spoil the scenery

 

This nefarious monstrosity

spilling the bilge water

of the tourist industry

hereabouts

 Floating pleasure palace

giant screen on the deck

 Intrusive capitalist legacy

of Mayor Lee and his cronies

 

 

To hell with it

 

We want our Bay to stay wild

 

A moment spent

in the wildness

one's soul reignites

Can you dig that?

 

 

I thought you could

 

It's all still here

the thrill ain't gone

 

 

 

Into the docks and piers

of Fisherman's Wharf

Visit vessels and devour vittles

Le Musee Mechanique!

 

I'm staying only an hour and half

for tuna salad sandwiches

and ginger ale,

I had dessert before sailing

my Cannabis chocolate,

I spent the time out on the Bay

a maze of sight-seeing docks

 

 

Humans and harbor seals

not as different

as they think

Are we not

marine mammals?

 

 

This is Pier 39

claptrap tourist trap

keeps them somewhat contained

 

 

The sales-force tower obtrudes

horning into the Coit Tower sky,

San Francisco force-fed

top-heavy civilization

 

Across the bay

nestles legendary Sausalito

Once a groovy enclave

 enslaved today by income

and property

 

 

 

There's my little red wagon

willing itself forward

into the gate

 

 

Sea spray and chop

 

Easily forgotten promises

represented by padlocks,

A couple attached another one

as I observed

The male looked sheepish

 

 

There's the infernal cruise ship

way out of scale

spoiling the peace,

May an act of God

provide them with a lesson

in humility

 

 

A gull has built its nest

on a piling in the busy

bustling harbor

 

Time has come to lift off

my perch and take

to the Bay breeze

 

Off we shove

under evocative clouds
 

Scores of  birds

dive and feed across

the vast field of
 the Bay

 

Our excursion returns

under the Bay bridge

 

In a great swath of sunlight 

the big city grows small

 

Before anyone is too tired

we are back

 

A real sea change

has taken place

in set and in setting

 

 

 

 

Stop first at Alameda

it's compact landing

tucked next to Bay Ship

 

 

The density of the ship

displaces the seawater

that rolls and curves

like light around gravity

 

 

Bay Ship

 a reputation for masterful

ship rebuilding

 

 

 

Look who's had a face lift

 

 

The Balclutha

from the Hyde Street Pier

Looking wonderful,

old friend

 

Wish I could join them

when they sail it back over

the way I just came

 

 

 

 

 

5 May 2018