the morning paper

a rosy dawn, strong coffee and the chronicle

not a bad way to start the day, although i miss herb caen.

and charles mccabe and stanton delaplane

although jon carrols not too bad, but still......

when i was twelve i had a paper route

and i read those guys while i folded papers

kind of got them in my DNA and now they're dead

but still.....

i like to read the paper while the sun comes up

and sip a cup of fresh brewed peet's

you know.......

that's the worst thing about morning in motels

those wretched little coffee packets and artificial creamer

and no chronicle, somethings missing

but this is supposed to be about a good day, so.......

one last thing though, i had another paper route

when i was finishing college

the chronicle of course, up in sacramento,

i drove all over the land park and pocket road neighborhoods

listening to top 40 til i was ready to puke up

fleetwood mac, the eagles and the bee gees

it's only been the last few years

when i could listen to those songs again

and what d'ya know, i even like them, kinda

-cept for barry manilow, i'm sorry,

but you gotta draw the line somewhere

anyway, a good day, right, starts with

rosy dawn, a cup o' coffee, and the morning paper,

sitting on the couch with my lover's feet tucked under my legs.

the city looks different every morning,

sometimes it gleams, sometimes it's cloaked

the bay is chopped and frothy or like this morning

smooth and speckled with -must a been a thousand grebes

resting on their way to summer destinations

ok, so anyway, get on the bridge without getting smacked

by some leadfooted jerk in an SUV,

and make all the traffic lights on the embarcadero

pull up at the office and blow kisses to my sweetie

as she drives away, keep my fingers crossed that

the elevators are working today.

i'm the first one there, it's nice, peaceful

another cup of coffee and the email,

a map to make without some client

fussing about whether the business park

should be more mauve or lavender,

or the study area boundary should be more bold

or why can't all the colors be more primary......

well there's only so many primaries after all,

speaking of which, aren't you getting tired of all these primaries?

i sure am, even though i probably read 30 or 40 articles

on the internet everyday, ok, i'm a political junkie, i admit it,

but still......

maybe thanksgiving day we'll really have something

to be grateful for this year. if we don't screw it up this summer.

as they say in minnesota, well-ok-then.

meanwhile, back at the office, nothing much,

just making maps. on a day like this when it's just art, it's fun.

and then it's time to go. waiting on the street at the edge of the financial district

the wind whipping trash and dust between the skyscrapered canyons,

here comes the funny looking red car and my smiling darling

and we cross that bridge back to our quirky little island in the bay

i think i'll make smoked duck in chili sauce with saffron rice.

i wonder what we got from netflix today, dinner and a movie

those old pleasures, are even sweeter, at home, on tuesday.