Berkeley Calling Me

Berkeley Beckoning Me I grew up In Berkeley, California In the early 70s A wild and crazy time Berkeley shaped my soul And my heart will always Long for my home land Berkeley was always A wild and zany place Filled with original characters Drawn to the city by the bay The hills overlooking the city The campus filled with students The downtown shopping area The suburban housing The street people The vendors on Telegraph The smell of marijuana Hanging in the air Long before it was legal In some ways Berkeley seems stuck In a time wrap A certain corner Seems to be forever Stuck in 1969 The city has changed Over the years Like most places It has become harder And harder for the working class To afford to live there The yuppies took over Decades ago But despite that the city Continues to be home To a diverse population Little India emerged Along with Berkeley’s Chinatown The old black neighborhoods Still manages to somehow Thrive amid the gentrification And so as my life winds down My thoughts keep returning To my ancestral home The homeland Where I wish to die