Jack Kerouac is best known for his multi-volume Legend of Duluoz, which includes On the Road and The Dharma Bums, but he was also an important poet. One of the eight extended poems contained in Kerouac's Book of Blues (Penguin 1995), 'San Francisco Blues' is an exuberant foray into language and consciousness, combining rich imagery, complex internal rhythms, and a reverent attentiveness to the moment.