down in north beach    on the corner of columbus

and kerouac alley

the mythology of san francisco beat was born

of kerouac   ginsberg   snyder   under the sign 

of ferlinghetti’s city lights bookstore

born of eastern thought and yab-yum

cassady's mad energy and a notion

that it's under the bodi tree   listen to the buddha

or has it become a myth of the mythology

here in the high desert   among the pueblos

and pyue cliff dwellings

on the shard covered mesas

the mythology   not so different   is earthen

born of clay and fire and hunger and water and grain

of ancestors faintly heard

voices nearly lost to the whip and cross   

sold in gift stores under the sign of kokopelli

and trinkets on the plaza   the myth of the mythology

what of our own   hers and mine   not so different

under what sign

the star and cross   the temple and resurrection

under this rarified air i'm asking   if we listen hard enough

will we hear our ancestors’ songs

or have they   too   become unrecognizable   myths of the mythology