Buck’s got an untameable beard –
the man under the big top in a pinstriped suit brandishing a chair & whip
couldn’t control his dirty thatch of greying split ends.

Pushing his cart of knicks & knacks
through lakeside intersections in the mild afternoon,
he smiles thru his seven teeth.

Shoot the breeze with him in front of the Coffee with a Beat cafe on Grand
and you’ll discover he’s an absolutely avid sci-fi fan,
has seen all the 70s & 80s classics back in his foster days,
and, in fact, is related to roughly half of the films’ principal actors & protaganists (so he tells me from time to time).

We have a cup & a chat once in a while.
He claims he’s a five product guy: cigs & joe, franks, beans & pie.
Always wondered where he sleeps, but to ask seems impolite.
Memory sharp, mind alive,
a little crazy but half alright.

(12/12/2016 – Adams Point, Oakland, CA)