Hustle & Flow

a lone sea bird

before dawn
keeps time
with trains 

above West Oakland 

sidewalks awash 

with gold grass
on thistle,
painted ladies
against purple
darkness of Tilden,
of Sibley, 

of Redwood's 

rolling crests --

while on headphones,
Chinese Ehru notes glide
above sea swell 

sounds from violins

our flights
at such
great heights --

before the train snakes
down its bay-floor tunnel,
before ears go pop
from changes in pressure
and the screams of steel
wheels on rail,
before the bustling stops
at Embarcadero,
at Montgomery,
before the song-change
to some 50-Cent hustle
and the swagger anthems
of Barbary pirates

the truth is,
i am one of them,
awake at 5 a.m.
the early bird
is all business,
all hustle for flow

i don't know what 
you heard about me

while on headphones
Chinese Ehru notes glide
above sea swell

sounds from violins