My iPhone’s World Clock is set to “Los Angeles” now,
though I don’t live there.
It will never read “San Francisco” again. 

“The City” -- some still like to call it --
is no longer the same place. Must I explain?

Lost in time, the ghosts of North Beach,
the Haight, Chinatown, the Western Addition.
Their stories, the park, the fog’s spell 
as it toys with the Richmond, the Sunset, Fort Point
-- where Jimmy Stewart pulled Kim Novak
from the water. All love is a mystery.

You know exactly what I’m talking about.
The timeline ruptured. The fog lost its drama.
A world has vanished. 

Black people -- remember them?
-- priced out decades ago;
artists, writers and musicians too.
Now kids tweak corporate websites
and portals promise utopias
to shame any flower child’s pipe dream.
Don’t hold your breath.

Technology changes. But people? Never.
A simple principle, ages old.
Questioned only here, over tapas and craft beer.

My iPhone’s World Clock is set to “Los Angeles” now.