City Guide
Affordable Housing!
(New extension of the jailhouse.)
New weight-loss diet!
(What your EBT card buys you.)
View of the ocean!
(When you’re sleeping on the beach.)
Rapid transit!
(When you’re running from the cops.)
Friendly offers of free rides!
(If you put out for the driver.)
Jobs galore!
(See the flyers on the phone poles.)
Free shoes for your feet!
(If you can climb to where they’re hanging.)
The writing’s on the wall!
(But only gangs can read it.)
Lots of areas to hike!
(As you climb a hill of garbage.)
City council reps will hear your story!
(If your donation re-elects them.)
Take a tour of our fair city!
(There’s nothing left to do but walk.)
Los Angeles on a Day After the Rain
Starbucks eyes
Stare up from the sidewalk.
Wet
refuse and leaves
Still scattered.
Don’t slip while walking.
The
mountains
Can
finally be seen
And
one can follow
The
etchings on their sides,
The
fire-trails from the hotter fall.
Be
careful to cross
The
puddle-lake in the parking lot
At
its narrowest point.
That puddle called a River
At
least looks like a stream today.
The
air is full of living aromas,
Grilled tacos on the corner
A
whiff of burning wood.
The
city
Has
been cleansed.
Now
the city
Will turn belly up
To
absorb the sun,
To
preen itself,
Sexier and more glam,
Until it accumulates
Too
much activity,
Stress and stench,
And
submits
To
dark clouds
That will discharge
Another exemption,
Redemption,
Purgation,
And
onward………
For
the season.
Originally published in Lummox # 9
No comments:
Post a Comment