San Francisco Song

Down on Geary the dogs are barking

But they’ve forgotten how to bite

And the only light that’s shining

Is the buzzing neon streetlight

And the only hearts that’s seeing

The old rugged cross on the hill

Are awkwardly sleeping

Looking for comfort or a thrill

And me, Im here waiting

For a signal or a sign

Something that will tell me

That it isn’t time

No it isn’t time

Romeo hes holding onto the only thing he knows

A slightly built Lorenzo with a crew cut and pigeon toes

He clicks his cuban heels together 

And tries to fly  away

But the only path thats leading

Is headed out to Alcatraz in the bay

And me, Im here waiting

For a signal or a sign

Something that might tell me

That he has the time..that he has the time….

I hear the wharf rats sighing

In nursey rhymes they sleep

Pretending to be mouses

With tiny feet they creep

Up to the grandfather clock

High on Russian hill

Who feeds them purple elephants

And assorted pills

But me, Im here waiting

For a signal or a sign

Something that might tell me

That it’s my last time..that it’s my last time…

There is a perfect crossing looking over the valley green

Where the spirit of past days shines

But is never truely seen

Where if you listen carefully

The Band it plays for free

As the breeze blows flowers from your hair

And whispers of a lost queen

But me Im here waiting

For a signal or a sign

Something that might show me

Scenes from a better time

From a better time

The wall it is marked with the ghost of christmas past

Of dreams of sugar plums not nightmare medical masks

I see his painted blue face

laughing up at me

Singing all those who would be sailors

You are all lost at sea

But me I’m here waiting for a signal or a sign

Something that might tell me

Its not the end of times…its not the end of times…

9 Comments

    1. The Paltry Sum

      You are a San Franciscan! Figures…all the best people are….Sending you SF night best wishes. Its eerily quiet out there tonight. Not a crackhead or a car alarm, or a siren. Something is up.

      1. The Paltry Sum

        Ferlinghetti was 102 I believe…a desperately sad loss. The full stop at the end of an era. I saw a lovely volume of his poems in there when I last stopped by City Lights. Has it been long since you were in San Francisco?

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