Blue

Hello, San Francisco
City, not of dreams,
but little things
how blue one feels
without you

Hello, San Francisco
so spartan & in sync
a city that beats
I'm glad I caught you
with my teeth
& sank deep, sank deep

Don't you know
my sea-salt love
I would go
to north Sausalito
& beyond
to taste you on my tongue


Hello, San Francisco
A paperback dream
& the flush of spring
I will learn to love
all the unsavoury parts of you


Oh San Francisco
perhaps this is long overdue
but I hope you know
that I will learn to love
all the unsavoury parts of you

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It's been about a year & I haven't written many songs or poems about my trip to San Francisco CA last summer, which is strange because I remember so much of it; the dreamy carousel fraught with fathers & their pink-frocked daughters, the tang of salt on my upper lip, sharp smells of clam chowder & seafood & freshly-baked sourdough on the pier at eight-thirty in the morning. I should though, before these tactile & sensory images turn to dust. It's how one preserves special memories, by turning it into song...

In Broad Daylight

Believe me, for a moment, it feels as if you could step off the plane to walk & lie on the clouds. Beautiful, like a dream. More than that, it was the feeling of finally returning & sinking into what we know as comfort, no matter how wonderful the stint abroad was. It's a big part of travelling: the Coming Home.

Certain half-deserted streets

Ghost Town (noun)
by Merriam-Webster

: A once-flourishing town, wholly or nearly deserted, usually as a result of the exhaustion of some natural resource. First known usage of lexicon: 1931.

Out of the ash

'We should meet in another life,
We should meet in air,
Me & You.'

Sylvia Plath

'Ariel'

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We visited a decorative cemetery one weekend, in Whiskeytown CA. We were on our way to do some hiking & swimming in the lake, & so we almost missed it, nearly driving past the trees & wooden gates. I'm glad we didn't though, because it was quite something: those graves furnished with stone plagues, garden gnomes, whole nativity scenes, clay rabbits, toy race cars & assorted knick-knacks.

People don't usually find solace in drab places like cemeteries, but over there, it felt quite different... It was a hint of life, happiness, and most of all, peace. If I had a choice, all cemeteries would be like this... & then visiting them would be quite a different experience.

A Spritely Sky

This post will be written in hash-tag form, because:

a) It's easier,
b) There's no better way to emulate the bursts of emotion one gets from seeing a brightly-lit sky, even if it is only for a few seconds.



#night #fireworks #fourthofjuly #spontaneous #colours #lights #people #families #cities #barbecue #awe #love #hands #America #red #white #gold #snapshots #noisebutthenalsoquiet #independenceday #humanity #joy #hope #tears #goodnights 

Nature, my creator

 'My river runs to thee,
Blue sea, wilt welcome me? 

My river waits reply.
Oh sea, look graciously! 

I'll fetch thee brooks
From spotted nooks, - 

Say, sea,
Take me!'

Love XI

Emily Dickinson

You had me at Meat Tornado

Almost a month of seafood, bacon, butter and burgers. It's my kind of food... Only in the USA.

Salt-water Taffy, & Jack Kerouac

Some pictures from our visit to Sausalito: the small town across the bay from San Francisco. I love places like these. There's a common atmosphere of, well, home, found in the knick-knack shops, quaint booksellers, & Greek diners with their friendly Greek waitresses.


Also, candy. Nothing says charming seaside town like barrels of candy! Root beer, Key Lime, Sour Raspberry, Caramel, Chocolate Chip Mint... It's a sweet-tooth's paradise. As I said, I could spend all day in a place like this :)

Beyond the Sea

'I who lived in a harbour from which I loved you
The solitude crossed with dream & with silence,
Penned up between the sea & sadness,
Soundless, delirious...'

Twenty Love Poems & A Song of Despair, XIII

Pablo Neruda

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San Francisco is a such a beautiful city... It's like a perpetual flea/farmer/fresh market all year round! There's something about the smells of salt and warm churros and sea catch that make you feel a little more alive. We must have taken the ferry at least four times, to Vallejo & Sauslito (Beautiful places, both of them. More on that later.)

I love the pier. And that carousel? I mean, come on. 

Between Union & Ghirardelli Squares, Chinatown, the Bay Area & the above, SF is quite the experience. Such a perfect place to spend summer! I quite needed that break.