Ira Sadoff
WALKING DOWN CASTRO STREET
AFTER FRANK O'HARA
The streets of San Francisco
go on too long
which is a pleasant thing
like "going out of our way"
when we're just out walking
with no destination in mind
I'm in one of those moods
where I'm ready for anything
walking without purpose or compulsion
which doesn't mean you're not compelling
but I'm paying attention to the arguments
in the gay bars the fresh pasta stores
and Japanese Germans with cameras and musicians
whistling Fats Waller on the street corners
Who knows where this will lead to
is it the movie where Frank O'Hara appears
as a figure in a Larry Rivers painting
just because he might have observed these details
so casually they would all come together
in a loving assessment of the avenue
and the couples who love and hate one another
some of whom are lost without French Roast coffee
and others who don 't quite know where they're going
in
no particular hurry to arrive
