3691 23rd Street, San Francisco
a. Numbers on a door
windows surround
sidewalk slopes
teeny-tiny welcome mat.
b. Skinny door
reflections of a city
clapboard sidings
going on forever.
c. San Francisco
blue house
on the corner.
sloping sidewalk rises
to the door.
The numbers are the focus here
the tiny welcome mat
the mail slot
inviting news from afar.
d. The wood-framed window
is off-center and
off-axis.
The melding glass
reflects
the bustling
city
behind me.
e. ______
l 3691 l
Black lettering in
a deep turquoise
sea.
Clapboard slats
painted over
centuries.
f. Teeny-tiny
welcome mat
Warm heart
opens the door
when I knock.
**
My love spills
into
the bronze
slot.
g. 3.6.9.1.
Vertical lines rise to the sky
horizontal boards ground us.
The streets of San Francisco
e
s
i
r
to the sky.
The sky that is
reflected
in the
off-
center
windows and the
skylight
above
that
skinny
door.
The memory of the city
reflected in those
____ _____
l win l l dows l
no one can see
but can imagine
my joy
of discovery
in that
/ space /
and
/ time / .
Thanks for your patience for reading through all those poems! It was so much fun* to write and explore these ideas.
Tell me, which snippet do you prefer?
How would you respond to the painting; what would you say about it—write a little poem and share it with me!
Happy summertime,
-René