painted ladies

painted ladies over the years i have forgotten her eyes that her smile was soft and her hair like chiffon on a wednesday morning we walked along stanyan street celebrating the colors of a fall morning listening to simon and garfunkel and watching steam rise from beneath the street the majesty of the painted ladies on steiner street came alive as they stared us down two lovers hand in hand looking for a place to lay a blanket in alamo square park we must have looked bland compared to their flamboyancy queen anne archetecture—fancy and flashy combinations of bay windows from which lovers could be watched jutting turrets and ornately decorated rooflines even then, when i saw the brilliant pink of a lady, i saw you, your lips, your smile and of the blue, i saw your eyes, the sparkle the laughing way they looked at me yet i have forgotten the colors and only the painted ladies on steiner street remind me of that morning looking for a place to lay a blanket in alamo square park tolbert