22. How To Paint Sunlight Lyric Poems And Others (1997-2000)- Lawrence Ferlinghetti
New Directions

October 15th, 2001. My first semester at SFSU. One of my first The Poetry Center events. I had been collecting Ferlinghetti books for a few years at this point, for reasons I'm still not sure of I had decided that Ferlinghetti was going to be my Beat, not Ginsberg, not Corso, but FERLINGHETTI.

This was billed as a rare appearance. It was a rare appearance. The reading was held at Club Fugazi (the Beach Blanket Babylon Theater) on Green St. in North Beach. I attended by myself. Seeing Ferlinghetti was a little like being in the presence of a myth, a San Francisco postcard character. I remember thinking it was weird that he actually existed, living and breathing in the same city as me. I was very new to poetry so my mind was very much blown with the sudden realization that I was actually participating (if only by attending) in the SF poetry scene, I wasn't reading about it, I wasn't talking about it over beers with friends in the suburbs, I was now living it, pushing up against it, part of the history;  "it's all finally happening!"

The reading was great, Ferlinghetti didn't disappoint, reading from both the new book as well as the old hits. After the reading I walked out of Club Fugazi high on adrenaline, buzzing on poetry.

I walked around North Beach a bit, not wanting to head back to the SFSU dorms just yet. I spotted a restaurant/ bar called Capp's Corner over on Powell. I went in, ordered a beer (probably a Sierra Nevada) at the bar and flipped through the copy of How To Paint Sunlight I had bought at the reading. I was sitting there for 25 minutes or so when in walks Lawrence Ferlinghetti. He ordered some kind of drink at the bar, then headed over to a table where some friends of his were sitting. I was nervous, but I knew I would be kicking myself for a long time if I didn't approach and say hello. So that's what I did. I walked over to his table, introduced myself, told him how much I enjoyed the reading, then asked if he might sign my just purchased copy of How To Paint Sunlight. He smiled, thanked me for attending, and signed his name in big Sharpie cursive.

Then I got the hell out of there. It was perfect, a perfect night, didn't want to possibly spoil it by lingering around too long. I got in my car and headed back to the dorms.