The Poet's Corner...

I Left My Heart

San Francisco, city of my endless childhood fantasies
City of St. Francis, Baghdad By The Bay
Before Baghdad was a dirty word
Howard Pease novels - Foghorns, The Tattooed Man, Shanghai Passage
Great ships anchored on the bay, waiting for a berth at the Embarcadero
Shining white city of bridges and hills and cable cars
Don't call it Frisco!

San Francisco, city of Christmas memories
Salvation Army bell ringers at every store
A pocketful of pennies to drop in their kettles
Magnificent Christmas trees at the Emporium and City of Paris
Union Square - the most beautiful store windows in the world
Lunch at Moore's Cafeteria
Watching the crowd turn the cable car on Powell
Stand back, folks, let's roll it forward now.

San Francisco, city of heroes
The 49ers at Kezar Stadium
Y.A. Tittle, Hugh McElhenny, Joe The Jet Perry, R.C. Alley Oop Owens
The fans waiting, praying, keeping the faith
Hoping that Walsh and Montana will come along - someday
The Warriors at the Cow Palace
Al Attles, Nate The Great Thurmond, Rick The Miami Greyhound Barry
The Giants at Candlestick
Say Hey Willie Mays, Stretch McCovey, Juan Marichal, Will The Thrill
16th and Bryant - there used to be a ballpark right here
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

San Francisco, city of movements
Beatniks dressed in black, shouting poetry in the coffee houses
Ginsberg, Kerouac, Ferlinghetti, the City Lights Bookstore
Hippies in the Haight-Ashbury, the summer of love
Tune in, turn on, drop out
Gays in the Castro, coming out, demanding to be heard
Harvey Milk with his bullhorn, Dan White with his gun
Parade upon parade, protesters taking to the streets
Stop the war, free Huey, gay pride, free speech, we shall overcome
What do we want? You name it! When do we want it? Now!

San Francisco, city of tourists
I've got the camera, mother, let's see the sights
Catch the Powell & Hyde car at the turntable
Jump off at California Street
Meet me at the Top of the Mark
That's one expensive cocktail, mother
Jump off at Washington and Jackson
Here's the car barn, mother, look at that bull wheel!
Jump off at Lombard, crookedest street in the world
Look down the Hyde Street hill; God, what a view
Jump off at the Buena Vista
Best Irish Coffee in the world, mother
Two over here, barkeep
How do we get to Chinatown?

San Francisco, city of great food
Ernie's and Paoli's
The Domino Club
Seafood at the Tadich Grill
Scoma's on the Wharf
North Beach, the aroma of garlic, butter and olive oil
The North Beach Cafe, Fior d'Italia
Filet of sole at the Washington Square Bar & Grill
(the Washbag to its friends)
The great ones fade, replaced by bright new stars.

San Francisco, city with a voice
Don Sherwood, Carter B. Smith, Al Jazzbo Collins, Dan Sorkin
KSFO, the world's greatest radio station
"The Sounds Of The City," world's greatest radio promo
Herb Caen, dot dot dot - got to read him every day
Stanton Delaplane, Charles McCabe
Russ Hodges, "Bye bye, baby"
Lon Simmons, the voice of almost every team
Bill King, master of the microphone
The great ones are gone, they can never be replaced.

San Francisco, city of music
Miles Davis at the Blackhawk
Cannonball Adderley at the Jazz Workshop
Standing room only at the Fillmore
Joplin and Hendrix and The Dead
Sly Stone giving birth to funk
Different strokes for different folks
Pavarotti and Domingo rockin' the Opera House
Tony Bennett and Ella Fitzgerald at the Venetian Room
No wonder he left his heart.

San Francisco, city of sin
Crowds lined up outside Finochio's
Honey, are you sure those are men?
Topless clubs strung out along Broadway
Bottomless waiting in the wings
The Chi Chi, Big Al's, The Condor, El Cid
Carol Doda and her twin 44s, Jill St. Paul totally nude
Hey, Buddy, come on in, sit right down front, best show in town
Couples welcome, bring the girlfriend, you'll hold hands, you'll fall in love
Just a two-drink minimum
No cover (know what I mean?)

San Francisco, city of street people
Mimes and jugglers, musicians and peddlers
The Human Jukebox
The guy who sang calypso at Ghirardelli Square
The one playing "Star Eyes," channeling Charlie Parker
Homeless people in every doorway, on every heating vent
Streets reeking of urine and vomit
Toothless, eyeless panhandlers in your face
Hey mister, spare change? Can you help a vet?
Walkin' on by? Well screw you too!

San Francisco, city of my enduring dreams
City of St. Francis, Baghdad By The Bay
Shining white city of...
Ah, what the hell
Go ahead and call it Frisco.
_____