understand this moment in front of a packed san francisco audience you have to do what poet laureate isaac martin does a lot, rollback the tape to a deeper look to be for his poetry reading on martin luther king day backstage. >> i spend it torturing myself. >> reporter: he became sent francisco's poet laureate, his works so profound and prolific, the mayor needed two pages for the words she used to describe him. >> groupie , artistic humanization. the pen is a megaton situation. what we write becomes a relationship to power that no brute strength can conquer. >> is there anything you say that is not well thought out? just being with you for five minutes, you have paid in minutes and hours thinking about this. >> reporter: he is humble he says because his craft demands it. >> it is the nobody that is the best -- >> too much of san francisco was not there in the first place. >> you see yourself as a servant of the creation. >> this is my comeback face. >> reporter: putting a light on people without a platform. greet them all grandson he says and do not say the word master turned ghost did not writ