Quintessential San Francisco
Texas and 20th Intersection by Robert Bechtle
The changing light
at San Francisco
is none of your East Coast light
none of your
pearly light of ParisThe light of San Francisco
is a sea light
an island lightAnd the light of fog
blanketing the hills
drifting in at night
through the Golden Gate
to lie on the city at dawnAnd then the halcyon late mornings
after the fog burns off
and the sun paints white houses
with the sea light of Greece
with sharp clean shadows
making the town look like
it had just been paintedBut the wind comes up at four o’clock
sweeping the hillsAnd then the veil of light of early evening
And then another scrim
when the new night fog
floats inAnd in that vale of light
the city drifts
anchorless upon the ocean— Lawrence Ferlinghetti
NOTE: Every now and again, you stumble upon something of yourself that causes you to think on serendipity, fate and/or omens. Such was my feeling in coming across this post this morning from Personism.
Several years ago, I had the inestimable pleasure of producing a film on this wonderfully enchanting city. Not only did we include a reading by the famed poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti at his legendary City Lights Book Store in North Beach, but shot a beautiful demonstration on the art of print making from Crown Point Press, the publisher’s of ‘Texas and 20th Intersection.’ Strangely curious and coincidental. Maybe I’m destined to attend a reading or buy a print or both.
It’s great when stuff like that happens. Like someone’s pulling our strings and someone else gets tweaked.
The first thing I thought when I saw that picture was Bullitt.
likewise Hazel ..I was waiting for Steve McQueen to come riding into the picture ..