asphalt

desire
wanders around the harbor
walking dizzy
out on the jetty
looking as if she'll fall
into the
ocean

and wayne
makes faces at charlton heston
waits for a call from linda harrison
on the red rotary dial telephone
looking classic
kind of delphic
in the heroin hole
hotel room
christian charity has afforded him
he asks me to remember that he's not the good guy
the second bed which he offered me
saying: i ain't queer so don't worry
it's all the church's money

and the call never comes
linda's dead or has got better things to do
he shakes
calls himself the black-sheep
of the family
he walks on crooked crutches
he talks way too much
i took my leave and went my way
as rest surely wasn't found there
a spectre of the fae
it always feels so rightly wrong
to stay so
i slept with necessity on asphalt under
barely enough wool blanket

the morning came
and dexter found me with a cheap cup of coffee
and an upward thumb
a couple of tom sawyers on the same river
he had his bed in the back
though this man was quite clean cut
well spoken
fallen from the computer generation
and now
dexter
he
wants to change the world
when all he's got is a van with a bed
oregon plates
dreams of a new start in santa rosa
where business may be better
cause he knows you've gotta have a couple bucks
if you want to buck the system

we stopped at a gas station to
get directions
to the bus station and a trader joe's
i was off to catch the eighty to the city
dexter was off for an application
at the grocery store
he offered to drive me right to the station
as he was in no hurry anyway
but i decided
to walk the last mile

there was astro
at the bus station waiting for the same
way into the city
all wrapped in blankets
all leaky in the nose
about my age i give him half my sandwich
and a pack of cigarettes
we took over the backseat of the bus
and slept
stretched over three seats each
and when my eyes opened again
it was to the second spire of the golden gate
poking up between the mountain

we walked through my favourite neighborhood
to city hall
we got high in front of the building
and no one seemed to care
no one ever cares
we laughed at the suits
knowing
each in our own way that the heart of
the city
was most certainly ours
st. francisco patron saint of the dispossesed
and generally lazy

and finally
the last bus
dropped me at the feet of a lover
but
still i find
i cannot stand still
i shake
as always

and desire always
finds
her ship has just sailed
can just make it out on the horizon
making good time away
and if you're not jesus
it's a bit difficult to walk to tokyo
but for my money
i'd bet
desire finds a way