Written between March and April of 1996 these poems represent a period of loneliness and searching. I was working at an advertising agency in Austin and had arranged a business trip to San Francisco. Divorce was fresh, wounds were deep and I was burning to get the words down as the feelings came at me around every corner and at every coffee shop.
Where SF had been a place of great happiness each year as I attended MacWorld I was wandering Chinatown and San Rafael where my ex-wife’s uncle lived. I was feeling all of it, the sorrow and longing was showing up and words were gathering in storm clouds.
I remember the days were cold, misty and windy. There was no where I could go to find hope. Coffee fueled more energy and anxiety but no lift.
open sf alone
John McElhenney
May 2009
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