Peter took me to visit his Sufi guru, who was also a master boat builder, poet and translator of Persian poetry. We went to Sausalito, where the Spaulding Wooden Boat Center stood at the foot of Gate Five Road. The immediate vision inside the center was Freda, 32 ft long and the oldest sailing yacht (built in 1885) on the west coast. Freda was being rebuilt after it sank in 2004.
While we waited for the guru, the director of the boat center gave us and another visitor a tour. After the tour I asked the visitor where he came from.
“Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.”
It was time to meet the guru so we said goodbye.
We sat with the guru in a corner of the building and talked about poetry and Clarion Music, where Peter and I first met. A rustle sound came toward us. It was the visitor from Pittsburgh. He was smiling broadly, excited.
“I have read your poetry. A friend of mine sent your poems to me and told me about you and Clarion. I visited the music shop in Chinatown yesterday.”
It took me a while but I eventually remembered his friend, someone whom I had lost contact for many years.
“Today is not about meeting my guru. It’s more about you,” Peter said as we left the boatyard. I agreed.
