Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Night is My Casual Friend

Night is a casual friend.
Come and go, night,
Stay for a while.
Here, have a drink.
Smile and tell me the lies of the city
In the fluent background rumble of living:

In the seething love of the body
shaped like San Miguel hills in neon curves
In the Polk Gulch alleys of piss and dumpsters
slipped between ever-lit storefronts
In the stainless First street lobbies and gated condos
packed with rich, young automatons
In the bunches of leather pressed clothes
passing through the doors of dark SoMa bars
In the headlight choke of cars and buses
sparking a thousand horizontal facets
In the steam and smells of fried meat
blown into rising clouds over hilly Chinatown
In the statues and sand held together by crabgrass
slept on by homeless in the worn corner park
In the random clatter of streetcars
heralded by bells and stone shuddering

In the pointed intersections of diagonal streets
In the phallic towers clustered downtown
In the din of 24 hour Haight Street record stores
In the smoke of hookah bars and Middle-Eastern trance
In the dance and clink of Italian coffee shops
In the sidewalk cafes lit by the glow of cigarettes
In the tenderloin on the crowded steps of mercy churches
In the fish decay and seagulls huddling on the wharf
In the crush of stuccoed duplexes and Victorian homes
In the solo apartments of lone microwave meals

Lies appeal to you,
And you shelter them.
Night, don't be still,
Come and go.
You are my casual friend.

6 comments:

SeanG said...

Cyrus you continue to inspire with your skill at expression. Rich and moving my brother. I felt like I was in our beloved SF by the end of this. Wish we could wander those forlorn streets together...

Cyrus said...

thank you sean. there is a lot of emotion left for that place. some day we may be able to hang out there again, having a coffee on the steps of rome, and checking out a record store or two on haight st. peace to you brother.

Unknown said...

Gorgeous piece Mr. Cyrus. Shared sentiments to those of Sean and yourself. Lots of emotions, great vivid memories, just plain old fun days in the simplest of terms.

Cyrus said...

yes laurasita. the memories are vivid and warm from those days, although it feels like another lifetime ago. i hope you are well in your european life.

Pedraum said...

moved.

Unknown said...

Dear Cyrusn, european life, great. English lifestyle, well getting used to! :) HOwever, nearness to other countries is such a commodity, that i feel more like europe is our home. big big hug to you.