The Great Meadow

I used to go to Aquatic Park

And fish at the pier and catch kingfish and perch

I'd look off at the house boats in Sausalito

And think of my young life in Ohio

Fishing for catfish with my dad

I'd sometimes swim in the Ohio river

Scared of catfish rumored to be the size of men

When I was young, I didn't dream this far

The only bodies of water I knew were the Ohio river and my cousin's bass pond in Navarre

From the Aquatic Park pier

I took some of my best photos there

Pelicans and seagulls (Pelicans and seagulls)

Sailboats and barges (Sailboats and barges)

And many people (and many pеople)

My girlfriend and friends

And family mеmbers

And happy fisherman catching the rare seabass

And pulling up crab nets

Gather inside Aquatic Park

Ghirardelli ice cream

Fireworks Aquatic Park

And the Balclutha vessel boat

Tide pools out Aquatic Park

Mossy, slippery rocks

Moonlight at Aquatic Park at dawn

A few months ago, I was walking

Down Polk street to the bait shop

I walked down the cement stairs

Like I'd been doing for the last 38 years

The pier was empty and all locked up

With no explanation, the sign read "Keep out"

I stood there feeling glum and choked up

Thinking about my many lives and good times on the pier

Thinking about the parolees who spent all day there

Eavesdropping on their conversations about who their dentist was in San Quentin

Thinking about my many walks with my mother there

And how me and my dad never got a chance to fish there

And going to the pier used to make my day

It was like a friend I could depend on

Now going to the pier isn't the same

Now it feels like I'm visiting one of my best friend's graves

Now I just walk past it, over to the great meadows (over to the great meadow)

The home of the Phillip Burton statue (The Phillip Burton statue)

And watch the young (watch the young) San Franciscans (San Franciscans) barbecuing and having fun (having fun)

And thinking yeah I too, was once that young

Back then I didn't spend much time over there

I spent my time at the Aquatic Park pier

What will happen to the pier, will it crumble away?

Wasn't the opening scene of Dirty Harry the helicopter flying over the bay?

What will happen to the pier, will it dissolve and disintegrate?

It will always be my muse either way