City of Spanish pretensions
Cortez would laugh
one bloodstained hand
caressing the flag of Spain
while the other plays
on Montezuma's gold
Balboa too
would at least grin
Knowing a park named after him
houses the world's most famous zoo
full of the last two
of many vanishing species
Father Junipero Serra
would probably frown
if he knew the Mission
was no longer the city's crowning glory
outdone now by the Jack Murphy Sports Arena
Where post modern conquistidors
having no other cultures to decimate
must be paid huge sums to subjugate one another
