A California Street — by Mark Tulin| Visitant

A California Street by Mark Tulin

I had a vivid dream at nine, living by the California coast, walking down a wide street, past palm trees and Spanish-style houses…
—  visitantlit.com/2020/02/19/a-california-street/

A California Street by Mark Tulin

I had a vivid dream at nine,
living by the California coast,
walking down a wide street,
past palm trees and Spanish-style houses.
I marveled at the warmth of the sun,
the clearness of the turquoise sea
and how beautiful the birds-of-paradise were.

Then I woke from the dream
and walked a broken path to school
down a narrow, tree-less North Philly street
with brick homes and abandoned cars on either side.
The sky was cloudy.
The air was stale.
Only the faint breeze coming from the Delaware
reminded me of the Pacific.