The bartender said
“I quit drinking,
The old neighborhood is gone, violence erupts,
No characters
Can afford to live here.”

So there is no character.

I wandered the streets looking for ghosts…
None remained.
I went to City Lights and asked
For Wannberg,
They knew him not –
Their poetry section
Sagged.

Even the strip clubs
Have lost their luster.

But Capp’s Corner limps along
Graffeo still roasts
And
The Alfa Connection
rumbles.

Gone is the Schlock Shop
The Hells Angels
The bohemian…

You have to squint to see
Old North Beach now,

Or just close your eyes.

Because the elegance is gone.