I stand where pier meets pavement gray
Flour dust kisses my glass eye
Baker counts each boot heel's sway
Steam writes recipes soft and high
Crust cracks loud in the quiet night
Foghorn groans low a cello note
Tide pulls slack on a hemp rope
Dough rises slow in copper boat
I count the steps I count the hope
Pier light counts the baker's beat
Flour snow on concrete feet
Bay mist curls around the knead
Alcatraz winks a distant seed
Pier light counts the baker's beat
Cable car clatters steel on steel
Apron pockets hold warm loaves
Baker's heel turns homeward real
Gull cries stitch the salted coves
Night shift ends on the wooden planks
Foghorn groans low a cello note
Tide pulls slack on a hemp rope
Dough rises slow in copper boat
I count the steps I count the hope
Pier light counts the baker's beat
Flour snow on concrete feet
Bay mist curls around the knead
Alcatraz winks a distant seed
Pier light counts the baker's beat
Lovers pause where railing ends
Shared cigarette a cherry spark
I catch the breath that loss sends
Before they fade leave no mark
Footprints dissolve in the salt spray
Oven cools the pier grows still
Sourdough crust sings crack and split
Dawn paints gold on Alcatraz hill
My filament drinks the morning lit
Shadows retreat from the waking quay
Pier light counts the baker's beat
Flour snow on concrete feet
Bay mist curls around the knead
Alcatraz winks a distant seed
Pier light counts the baker's beat
Tourists snap my rusted pole
Kids throw crusts to begging gulls
I watch the bay swallow the whole
Another night another hull
Flour dust settles on my lens
Pier light counts the baker's beat
Flour snow on concrete feet
Bay mist curls around the knead
Alcatraz winks a distant seed
Pier light counts the baker's beat
Footsteps fade on warming concrete
Sodium hum on brine-wet wood
Footsteps fade understood