My Tenderloin: an appreciation

The Tenderloin Voice publishes poetry and other artistic works by community members.

Shop signs shout in a dozen tongues, each vying for a sliver of sky.

The murmur of deals struck in doorways,

A symphony of languages hums, a thousand tiny dramas unfold on this stage where concrete cracks meet the sky so bold.

Those making deliveries weave through a kaleidoscope of faces, each etched with city grit and quiet grace.

Here, history whispers from chipped storefronts, echoes of a remarkable past — one filled with jazz clubs and speakeasies,

While a woman pushes a cart past murals
singing lullabies in Spanish, and a suit
hurries by, phone glued to his ear, a world
contained in two thumbs.

But beneath the chaos, a pulse, a rhythm, a shared breath, the Tenderloin
breathing stories into the rain-kissed air.