Steve Brooks (Abhaya) – Poetry, Prose & Art

Walking in San Francisco was written on the streets of the city in 1975. I was able, thankfully, while living on unemployment from my job as the donation can collector for St. Anthony’s Dining Room, to walk and ride the streets of the city and record impressions of life in the city I loved. I tried the same thing, in Ellensburg, Washington, in the summer of ’08, and the experience was entirely different but not unrelated. In Ellensburg, I was able to see things at a speed and in a frame of mind, that was slow and frameless, like being a child. I saw and felt things that I hadn’t seen or felt from my car, on my bike, or even walking with a purpose. Walking in such a busy city as San Francisco, I could not stay in that innocent apprehension of the incidental, but something similar did occur, way back then, that was more like a snapshot that one savors upon reflection. In Ellensburg, I was often on the street, alone, in the spirit of the moment, but in the city, the moment is crowded with purpose. This habit continued in Asheville, North Carolina, and in New York City.

The drawings that accompany these poems may become available in the future.

Download here:

Walking in San Francisco