Old warrior of North Beach
he walks the streets
of North Beach looking
like an old man with eyes
empty as a broken
parking meter
unemployable, weighed
down by the years
his mind heavy as an anchor
dragging the ocean floor
forgotten rebel playing old
Lorca ballads in the
shipwreck of his heart
his mind destroyed by shock
treatments and one too many
police batons
at night he dreams
he is riding with Geronimo
has imaginary conversations
with Charlie Parker
rides the ferry with Coltrane
and Mingus
getting off at Bourbon Street
to down a drink with Kerouac
he shares a cigarette
with Charlie Chaplin
at the old Bijou Theater
walks the battlefields
with Walt Whitman
rides the plains
with Red Cloud
in search of the last buffalo
walking the streets of North Beach
in search of the elusive ginger
fish smell
death a sightless chauffeur
waiting like a concubine
facing another apocalyptic day
Page(s) 23
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