open your arcs

     my car made it
     to Sunnyvale

     i left my toyota
     at the repair shop
     now i'm on my own

     i crossed Fremont and Mary
     and got some cash because
     my bank was right there
     in the shopping mall
     (frankly a shopping center)

       what will i tell'er
       she's an automatic teller
       gimme lotsa cash please
       and we'll part at ease

     now i can get smashed
     can throw money into air
     bring back art from dead
     fond of nothing in nowhere

     i keep walking down South Mary
     turn left-right-left-right
     pass small green streets
     turn into Hollenbeck
     pass houses and a catholic school
     tennis courts and shopping centers
     i sing:

       open arcs
       roll horizons
       spin the earth
       under your feet

     i reach Homestead and cross
     another shopping center
     a pizza place
     a sign
     "restroom for paying customers only"
     how timely
     then i order a beer
     fair is fair
     it's a fair trade-off
     taking some classes?
     i easily guess
     yes
     bartender says
     computer science  blah  blah  blah
     large screen!
     no don't turn that baby on
     good investment
     the guys come and cheer on
     forty niners yeah! yeah!
     ok
     good luck
     i am on my way
     down Homestead
     walk walk walk
     and right into De Anza Boulevard
     at each cross-section
     a red hand or wait sign
     tries to stop me
     i cross anyway
     and stop only on the bridge
     over highway 280

     five lines East
     five West
     cars run like hunting dogs
     i the hare freeze
     don't breathe
     and then

     280 opens the world
     from far away to far away
     and i sing:

       open arcs
       roll horizons
       spin the earth
       under your feet

     the dark surface underneath
     swishes under wheels
     behind me
     De Anza College is already to my right
     more shopping centers on both sides
     now the road
     is called
     Saratoga-Sunnyvale
     the fancy Apple buildings
     on a whim
     i try to get in
     the door would not budge
     you need a badge:

       roll apple
       i'll meet you in hell
       i'll bite'u and again
       but your products i won't sell

     it's hot
     the sun sits
     on my shoulders
     like a crazy hunchback
     breathing into my face
     but the sign says
     welcome to Saratoga
     i continue
     on Saratoga-Sunnyvale
     down to Saratoga Avenue
     suddenly
     the hills in the fog
     in front of me
     make my body sing:

       open arcs
       roll horizons
       spin the earth
       roll on your feet

     and so i walked
     flowers another college roads
     another day
     i'll get another beer
     and will tell you more.

wlodzimierz holsztynski ©
     1991-09-26