The cold wind blows in from the bay
The sirens that mark the tragedies of urban life
Scream behind the evening wind
As if shedding tears
For the wounded and the dead
As if grieving for the trapped
Freeway sounds
People flying past
East and west
Not knowing the stories
Not knowing the stories of a thousand victims
Of a thousand saints
Of a thousand heroes
Of a thousand villains
Of happy endings
Of sad songs
This my town
With her warts
With the smile of a thousand joys
Her beauty is ours to know
At the cost of the sadness
A cap and gown
A walk down the isle
A wedding dance
And a funeral march
A babes first communion
And the coffins of the fallen
Laughter punctuated with cries
Life to death and life again
The end of a story and the beginning of a journey.
It’s all here
Factory gray
The splendor of roses
Rundown
Yet renewed
The past fades into the future
Each day another chance
