In San Francisco my only friend was the bottle, everyone else had let me down (or so it seemed)... I'd buy cheese-spread for crackers and sandwiches, wash it down with a coke or a beer... Walk around Castro Valley, half drunk, looking at queers; out to North Beach and even Golden Gate Park, play some ball, watch the hippies build fires. I dare not drink during the week (after one test run), I'd get too thirsty and never make it home. On Saturdays I went to the movies, they cost $1.25 for three... and it seemed I'd always bring back home to my apartment (afterwards) those damn flees... But expensive movies I couldn't' afford, so there I'd stay, watching the movie, in the dark, as unforeseen noises came, I was not used of: breathing hard all around me: groans, moans, people masturbating, young and old (it was a new and weird world for me, at twenty-one); Some winos had bottles in their hands, whores trying to make them pay and climax; and their I was in the middle of all this, watching a movie for kicks"?boredom: eating chicken legs, wings, and breasts: watching the movies as it all digests...! Note: A true account of some of the author's days in San Francisco in 1968-69. 2/25/06 #1249 In Spanish Translated by Nancy Penaloza San Francisco Soledad (1968-1969) En San Francisco mi nica amiga fue la botella, todos los dems Me haban dejado de lado (o as pareca)- Yo comprara queso-untado para galleta salada y bocadillos, rocindolo con una coca o una cerveza.......... Pasear por el Valle de Castro, medio ebrio, mirando maricones; afuera de la playa norte y aun del portn dorado del parque, jugar algo de pelota, ver a los hippies prender fuego. No me atreva a beber durante la semana (despus de un ensayo) tendra demasiada sed y jams hacerlo en casa. Los Sbados, iba al cine, ello costaba &1.25 por tres... y esto significaba que yo siempre regresara a mi apartamento (despus) de esas malditas huidas. Pero pelculas caras yo no poda pagar, entonces all yo estara, viendo el cine, en la oscuridad, mientras imprevistos ruidos venan, yo no estaba acostumbrado, respirando fuerte todos alrededor mo: gemidos, quejas, gente masturbndose, jvenes y viejos (este era un nuevo y extrao mundo para mi, a mis 21 aos). Algunos alcohlicos de vino tenan botellas en sus manos, prostitutas tratando de hacerles pagar y orgasmos; y all yo estaba en el medio de todo esto, viendo la pelcula por placeres aburridos: comiendo piernas de pollo, alas, y pechos: viendo las pelculas como todo asimilado...! Nota: un relato real de algunos das del autor en San Francisco en 1968-69. 2/25/06 # 1249 |
