In late afternoon glare an aged apparition
in canvas hat, sneakers and scrubbed out jeans
sketches from a view above the Berkeley hills,
pad flipped over a rusted railing
A student in bouncing, eager steps
passes the elderly artist at her work,
glances quickly over her shoulder
to see what she sees:
amber/scarlet crowns of trees,
Victorian gables, pitched rooftops,
platinum puddle of a bay,
the shining white Stonehenge
the City of San Francisco becomes
on the serene side of day
Glancing back
he doesn’t spot her any more:
The view’s gone in a shift of sun,
shaded in black and white