WALKING THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO

The flotsam and jetsam

of residents’ lives

are left out on the street,

a continuous garage sale

without a garage.

Homeless men and women

with carts filled to the brim

sleep on sidewalks and doorways

that warn: “Do not urinate here!”

My 6 year-old grandson

saw a family begging for food

outside of a Safeway.

Someone gave them a banana.

I pass slender women

with movie-star faces

and lips I would love to kiss.

Other women are fat and clunky

with asses I think are unfortunate.

A cop with a snarling face

looks more like a python

about to strike.

Poised on a motorcycle

he’s ready to snag drivers

who cruise through the yellow.

Survival kits, a reward

for a radio contribution,

warn: “It’s not IF the next

earthquake occurs, it’s WHEN.”