The Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz
Are monuments of human greatness and petty official cruelty.
A man jumps from the bridge
sees our ship passing underneath
and tries to avoid it by flailing arms
and feet that try to run on air;
he wants to drown
and not be smashed on a ship’s iron decks.
A thud, a fine dust of ruby sprinkles sea air!
silence, but the ship sails on and docks.

The coroners scoop him up,
this unlucky golfer who missed his green,
we hose the deck and now we nervously talk all at once.
Later the story is told and retold in many bars,
every gory detail and don’t forget the thud.
On my way back to the ship,
just before dawn,
I see a couple,
in an open convertible,
making love and think:
Oh, humanity, there is still hope for us.