Here is my pick for a choice literary spot within the City! This is the Nob Hill apartment building at 755 Pine Street- where A.G. wrote the epic poem "Howl" . Directly across Pine is Joice Street. You can climb the wall of steps in this picturesque alley and look out beyond the top of Ginsburg's former rooftop. Imagine the specters that arose in the depressed, drug-addled mind of this poet as he stared into the brightly lit upper floors of the Sir Frances Drake Hotel in the distance. The blazing fiery eyes of a sadistic monster met his gaze in the cottony fog--Moloch. The looming ornate tower of the lodge (which turns 80 years young this year) cannot be seen any longer from this vantage point (other hotels built in view), but I still appreciate standing in the footprints of unique thinkers. My hope in sharing these pictures to channel some thought and energy into thinking lyrically about our world, the places we encounter. And since it is National Poetry Month.....I thought I would challenge myself AND you folks out there to put together a short poem (any old format/style) about Ginsberg, Howl, houses, SF, your leftovers, I don't care----whatever ideas and feelings these images evokes.
So here it goes....
Joice Street
A slanted street reels
Its like the tech gin and
Tonic plates knows these panes
Show where I sleep
My house on the hill
Means
The starving & keeling of hearts
For my casual whims
The ease of the breeze
Halfway ascended Joice’s steps
I am at the Mother Mary’s knees
Inhaling fog, Gog and Magog
Find Me
I AWAIT YOUR POETIC OFFERINGS EVERYONE :)
As if this little landmark of inspiration weren't enough of a reason to get off your duff on a nice afternoon in SF, yet another stop off on this "book it" powerwalk could include the apartment of novelist, Dashiell Hammett. He is best known for his gritty detective novels. Among these,The Maltese Falcon has pretty much defined (or set a damn good precedent for) the noir genre for generations of crime writers.Hammett's old haunt can be found just east of A.G.'s Pine Street locale on get this...Dashiell Hammett Street.
More pictures to post, Y'ALL.... BOTB.
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